Book Blurb:
Madrid, 1957. Under the fascist dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, Spain is hiding a dark secret. Meanwhile, tourists and foreign businessmen flood into Spain under the welcoming promise of sunshine and wine. Among them is eighteen-year-old Daniel Matheson, the son of an oil tycoon, who arrives in Madrid with his parents hoping to connect with the country of his mother’s birth through the lens of his camera. Photography–and fate–introduce him to Ana, whose family’s interweaving obstacles reveal the lingering grasp of the Spanish Civil War–as well as chilling definitions of fortune and fear. Daniel’s photographs leave him with uncomfortable questions amidst shadows of danger. He is backed into a corner of difficult decisions to protect those he loves. Lives and hearts collide, revealing an incredibly dark side to the sunny Spanish city.
My Review: 4 stars
The Fountains of Silence has once again transported be to another place in time with compelling storytelling. I’ve read several of the author’s books and each of them had kids and/or young adults as main characters. I suppose that’s why this novel is labeled for a YA (Young Adult) audience. Honestly, this book could be marketed as adult historical fiction or YA historical fiction.
This novel allowed me to travel to Madrid, 1957, and live under General Francisco Franco’s dictatorship. The majority of the book occurs in the summer of 1957 in Madrid, and right away I knew that the Sepetys did some complex research in order to make this story so entirely believable.
I loved the cast of characters: aspiring photographer Daniel, son to an American oil-tycoon who is visiting Spain hoping to make a deal; Ana, a young hotel employee, and her family; Puri, Ana’s devout cousin who works at the orphanage; and Fuga, Rafa’s friend who is destined to become a bullfighter. The chapters alternate between each of their point of views which for the most part worked seamlessly. I loved the different plotlines as they began to converge, but other times my time with certain characters was cut too short. Through the multiple POVs, the reader got a better understanding of Franco’s Spain from both angles – how it actually was versus how it was being advertised as a “tourist spot”.
Part Two of the novel takes place twenty years after Part One and is about a quarter of the length. I was looking forward to see where the characters end up and what became of them. This is where novel fell short for me; it almost felt like it was written by someone else. The first part had grit, emotion and adventure. Part Two had a lot of telling what happened and convenient closure. I still greatly enjoyed the book so obviously it didn’t bother me too much.
Dark times in a country’s history are always hard to tell, but this story was told with emotion and depth that had me hooked form the beginning. Readers who like historical fiction will gobble this up.
Quotes I liked:
I clung to books and words because, unlike people, they’d never abandon me.”
“Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly.”
“Silence has a voice of its own.”
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