The Shadow of The Wind By Carlos Ruiz Zafon
This is art and beauty, just in the words alone. The writer has a gift with words. The first chapter was so beautiful that I felt like this was more than a book, but a work of art. Aside from the beauty of the words, the story drew me in.
Set is Barcelona, Spain in the mid-1900's, the story begins just after the Spanish Civil War. A young boy, Daniel, has just lost his mother. His father, an antiquarian book dealer, takes him to a magical place known as the Cemetery of Books. Here book have been saved, protected, ans preserved. The hideaway is a secret and Daniel must swear to never tell a soul. Each new person to enter this place must find a book of their own to take a protect. Daniel choose a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind by Julián Carax.
Facinated with the book, Daniel immediately begins looking for more by this auther, only to learn that mystery surrounds him. As it tunrs out, someone has set about destroying each copy of the author's books and soon is after the one Danile holds.
Carlos Ruiz Zafon did a magnificent job. I felt like I knew the characters personally. I loved so many of them, that the story nearly drove me to tears on several occasions. Plus the story takes place over several years and the writer captures the maturing of the narrator, Daniel, so well. I look forward to his other novels.
