Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s novel The Shadow of the Wind was a huge bestseller in his native Spain after it was published in 2001. When it was translated to English a few years later, it became a huge bestseller in the England. What the beginning of the story reminded me of was the story Calliope from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman collection Dream Country. In the story Morpheus punished a man by giving him endless ideas and one of them was a man who got a library card to the library at Alexandria. While that’s not exactly what happens here, it is very close. The book is a gothic mystery book that revolves around books and a mysterious writer whose books have been mysteriously removed from the world…except when our protagonist finds one. And what happens next?

Daniel is the son of a bookstore owner in Barcelona. When he is 10, his father takes him to The Cemetery of Forgotten Books. His book choice is called The Shadow of the Wind (in a meta-title which reflects the story) by Julián  Carax. As Daniel falls in love with the book he looks for other titles by Julián Carax and slowly finds out that all the books by Julián Carax are gone and he has several people who are interested in buying the book from him for various reasons. One of the people is named Laín Coubert, which is a pseudonym in the book for the devil. Daniel eventually decides to hide the book back in The Cemetery of Forgotten Books for safety reasons and then resolves to find out more about Julián Carax.

When Daniel’s father hires a beggar (who was in the government before the revolution) to help out at the store and Fermin is not only a revelation as a book finder, but also willingly helps Daniel with his search for Julián Carax. As Daniel and Fermin go further and further into the search, Daniel’s life starts resembling Julián’s life and loves. Daniel finds himself up against his best friend’s family, the local police captain (who was a friend of Julián’s and an enemy of Fermin) and Laín Coubert who is trying to destroy Carax’s books.

The story circles around itself as it narrows further and further into the central mystery of who is Julián Carax. The book is well done with interesting characters and a good central mystery. The characters mostly seem larger than life, but that helps the story more than harms it. Zafón does a great job making the city a character as well (and the book includes a tour of the locations in Barcelona where the book takes place in case you wish to visit). The book is a gothic romance with each of the main characters having a love they can’t live without, but can’t stay with due to conditions outside their control. As Daniel’s life starts mirroring Juliá’s the story starts unraveling when Daniel and Fermin start finding out the truth about Julián Carax and his life. The book is an enjoyable and fun read. Recommended.