The Shadow of the Wind

Structured as a mystery wrapped within a story within a story, The Shadow of the Wind by the Spanish writer Carlos Ruiz Zafón and translated  into English by Lucia Graves, explores themes of love and the importance of storytelling in keeping alive memories of the dead. Part mystery, part potboiler, part romance, and part gothic horror story, the novel mingles realism and magical realism elements into a dramatic plot, while also delineating a large cast of diverse characters in one small corner of Barcelona, covering the years from about 1914 to 1966. This time period includes the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath, forming a backdrop against which the lives of simple, individual people are grimly endured or ruined by tyranny and evil.

While Zafón deliberately borrows many themes and literary techniques from other authors, most specifically Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s and Luis Borges’ magical realism techniques and Umberto Eco’s gothic atmosphere and moral tone, he layers these borrowings with substantial characterizations—and a fantastical plot—that bring his story alive. Most notably, the story centers around the mysterious Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a labyrinth where books and their living souls are stored, cherished, and protected.