by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals from its war wounds, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer’s son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julian Carax. But when he sets out to find the author’s other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax’s books in existence. Soon Daniel’s seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets–an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love.
My take
The book is set in Barcelona which is one reason why I’m reading it and reading it now since we’re headed for Barcelona soon. While there is a mystery to it and the plot is intriguing it’s also not the kind of thing that keeps you up late to get to the next part of the story. Instead it has a kind of meandering pace that allows you to easily set it down and pick it back up again. That’s not to say it’s boring but it’s pleasant. Like putting on a pair of shoes that fit well.
The characters are interesting and none are annoying. Well okay one is a terrible villain but he has his reasons. The rest are complex and worth getting to know. I was also interested to find at the end of the book a recommended walking route in Barcelona that goes past different settings from the book. We didn’t take that walk that we did end up going to some of those locations.