Book Review: The Shadow of the Wind

Reviewed By: Pat Reid - RAM

The Shadow of the Wind     Amazon US TPB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada TPB Amazon Canada HC
Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Class/Genre:   Fiction   Historical
Penguin Books, 2005, 486 pps.

Daniel Sempere’s father owns a used bookstore. Daniel’s mother died when he was four. When Daniel is ten years old he wakes up and tells his father he can no longer remember his mother. His father decides to take him to The Cemetery of Forgotten Books. He cautions Daniel that he must not tell anyone what he sees there. Daniel’s father tells him that it is tradition the first time someone visits The Cemetery of Forgotten Books that person is allowed to pick one book and adopt it. Daniel chooses The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax. This book was to change Daniel’s life.

Daniel becomes obsessed with the author. He wants to know every detail of Julian Carax’s life. He finds that Julian was in love with a young woman named Penelope. He is told Julian had moved to Paris. He is told Julian was back in Barcelona. He is told Julian is dead. He finds out that no copies of the Carax books are known to be in existence. He is even approached by a man with no face attempting to buy his copy of The Shadow of the Wind.

Daniel enlisted friends in his search for the truth behind the mysteries attached to Carax’s life. This search for Carax’s life story places Daniel and his friends in danger.

In the book Daniel tells a friend that Carax’s story was a story of love, of hatred and of the dreams that live in the shadow of the wind. This is a long but fascinating book. It is one that will linger in your mind long after you reach the last page.

Pat Reid - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Pat Reid - RAM