I had received The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon almost a year ago. When I started my book club in May, I suggested we either read Zafon’s novel or Moloka’i by Alan Brennert. At the time the majority voted for Moloka’i, which turned out to be a wonderful read and perfect for discussion (you can see my review here). Just a few weeks ago, one of our newest members brought along The Shadow of the Wind and this time it was picked for discussion. I actually finished this book over a week ago, so have now added it to my 2007 list of books (you can see the entire list here).
Daniel, a young motherless boy in Barcelona during the 1940’s is taken by his bookseller father to The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, where he is able to adopt one book to keep. Daniel takes the book, The Shadow of the Wind written by Julian Carax, home and reads it within hours. Thus begins the story of Daniel’s search for other books by Carax, which are being systematically destroyed by an unknown person.
There is a wonderful cast of characters in Zafon’s book; Daniel’s lonely father, a young, beautiful blind girl who is Daniel’s first love, the mysterious Nuria Monfort and my personal favorite, Fermin Romero de Torres, a homeless man who provides plenty of comic relief throughout the novel.
During the next ten years, Daniel slowly uncovers the devastating story of Julian Carax and his connection with a beautiful girl named Penelope, all the while being pursued by a man with a burned face and the evil Inspector Javier Fumero.
The story is dotted with enough twists and turns to leave you reading far into the night. It is part gothic novel, part mystery and part love story, all adding up to one satisfying read.
