The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Just after the Spanish Civil War, Barcelona is in shambles, and Daniel Sempere's mother has been dead so long he can't remember her face.  Daniel is ten years old when his father, the owner of the bookshop, takes him to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books to choose a novel from piles and stacks of books that have been brought there because they were, in essence, forgotten.  This tradition had been passed down for generations by the Sempere family.  Daniel chose a book, The Shadow of the Wind, by Julian Carax.  He is told that the book would be his to keep and protect forever and that he must never tell anyone about the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.  Little did Daniel know that the book he had chosen would alter his future forever.  Little did Daniel know, that the author of the book was involved in scandel and murder, love and tragedy.  His curiousity got the better of him when he decided to find out more about the life of Julian Carax.  And the life of Carax altered the lives of many for better and worse. 

This story is so complex that I cannot even begin to review it in it's entirety here.  Even if I tried, it would give away the ending because the truth doesn't take shape til then.  I can only say that Carlos Ruiz Zafon is a master at his art.  This tale is one that will be etched in my memory for a very long time.  One phrase in particular, gave me goosebumps:  ...so long as we are being remembered, we remain alive...     

Published in 2001 in Barcelona and translated to English and published in New York by The Penguin Press in 2004, The Shadow of the Wind spent more than a year on the Spanish bestseller list and is being published in more than twenty countries.  It has been acclaimed internationally.