The Shadow of the Wind

Barcelona, 1945: the proprietor of a modest second-hand book store takes his eleven-year-old son Daniel to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books in the heart of the old town. This vast library houses thousands of books – all recollection of which has been erased by time – thus saving them from total oblivion. Here Daniel decides to “adopt” a book called The Shadow of the Wind, the work of a mysterious author called Julián Carax, and his decision will change his destiny forever. In the pages of the novel, his life is intertwined with the history of Barcelona, a city wounded by the Civil War and by the years of Francoism, which the author often portrays in dismal, decadent tones. “Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens” – Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s novel is a declaration of love for reading. L’ombra del vento Carlos Ruiz Zafón Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 2004