La Sombra del Viento

The Shadow of the Wind

  I recently finished this novel by the Spanish writer Carlos Ruiz Zafón. When I picked it up at work during a charity fund raising event I had never even heard of it and was completely unaware of what to expect. What a pleasant surprise. This wonderful, dark story, with Barcelona as the mystical backdrop is written with such passion and intrigue it is impossible to stay unaffected by the story.

“The city is a sorceress, you know, Daniel? It gets under your skin and steals your soul without you knowing it…”

  Entangled in the misery of the Spanish civil war the characters Carlos brings to life in this book are as endearing as they are scary. One character in particular stands out, Fermin Romero de Torres. Fermin, the main characters friend and sidekick is a hopeless romantic and a homeless poet.

             "The female heart is a labyrinth of subtleties, too challenging for the uncouth mind of the male racketeer. If you really want to possess a woman, you must think like her, and the first thing to do is to win over her soul. The rest, that sweet, soft wrapping that steals away your senses and your virtue, is a bonus."  F.R.d.T

I suggest you read this book in autumn on a rainy, foggy day. Make yourself a cup of tea, crawl under a blanket and get stuck in. You won't regret it!

“Few things leave a deeper mark on a reader than the first book that finds its way into his heart. Those first images, the echo of words we think we have left behind, accompany us throughout our lives and sculpt a palace in our memory to which, sooner or later – no matter how many books we read, how many worlds we discover, or how much we learn to forget – we will return.”