The Shadow of the Wind is a 2001 novel by the Spanish writer Carlos Ruiz Zafón and a worldwide bestseller.
One morning in 1945, a boy is driven by his father to a mysterious place hidden away in the heart of the old city: The Cemetery of Lost Books. There, Daniel Sempere finds a cursed book which will change the course of his life and plunge him into a labyrinth of intrigue and secrets concealed in the dark soul of the city.
Hidden in the heart of the old city of Barcelona is the ‘Cemetery of Forgotten Books’, a labyrinthine library of obscure and forgotten titles. To this library, a man brings his ten-year-old son, Daniel, one cold morning in 1945. Daniel is allowed to choose one book and from the dusty shelves pulls The Shadow of the Wind by Juliån Carax. But as Daniel grows up. several people seem inordinately interested in his find. What begins as a case of literary curiosity turns into a race to find out the truth behind the life and death of Juliån Carax and to save those he left behind.
The Shadow of the Windis a literary thriller set in Barcelona in the first half of the 20th century, from the fading splendour of Modernism to the shadowy post-war world. It has elements of mystery, historical, and comedy of manner genres but it is most of all a tragic love story which echoes through time. With great narrative power, the author reveals plots and intrigues as though opening up a Russian doll in an unforgettable tale about the secrets of the heart and the magic of books, maintaining the mystery until the last page.
