The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafòn. Penguin Books, 2005.
$24.95 — 496 pp.

In Italo Calvino’s book, Invisible Cities, Venetian explorer Marco Polo describes the many cities he’s visited to an aging Kublai Khan, ruler of a vast Mongolian empire. Polo explains how each city is framed by our past experiences; we see the world according to the perspective we developed in childhood. The question, then, becomes, can we ever truly escape our earliest childhood dreams, desires, fears, transgressions — or are we bound to live out the fate that unfolds in the earliest chapters of our lives?

Carlos Ruiz Zafón tackles this provocative question and more in a fabulous novel called The Shadow of the Wind. The story, set in mid-20th century Barcelona, starts with a young boy, Daniel Sempere, who is taken to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books by his father, an antiquarian book dealer. There, in the secret labyrinth of old, forgotten books, Daniel pulls out a rare copy of The Shadow of the Wind, a novel by Julián Carax.

Daniel reads through the book one night and sets out to learn all he can about his new favorite author. However, the more he tries to uncover about the mysterious life of Julián Carax, the more it seems his own life is put in jeopardy. The sinister Police Inspector Fumero is following his every move, neighbors and friends are beaten up, and someone is trying to burn every last copy of Carax’s novels. Even more bizarre, Daniel discovers that his life and Carax’s are inextricably connected.

As Daniel grows into a man, he follows Carax’s paper trail through diary entries, receipts, photographs and late-night meetings. After learning some dark secrets about Carax including a dangerous love affair with the daughter of a powerful industrialist, Daniel tries to save a forgotten author before it’s too late. Can Carax escape his past and will Daniel face a similar doom?

Zafón takes you on a gorgeous ride through Barcelona’s famous landmarks, churches, dangerous alleys, even a haunted mansion — all with the effortless skill of a master storyteller. His style, lyrical and peopled with fascinating characters, draws comparisons to Charles Dickens, Umberto Eco, Gabriel Garcia Márquez and Jorge Luis Borges.

Having recently visited Barcelona, I found Zafón’s descriptions of the city alluring without being tedious. He eases you into the city’s districts — Raval, Ribera, Barceloneta — without reveling in the kind of Hemingway name-dropping that alienates readers. Zafón is at ease in Barcelona because he grew up there, but it takes a special kind of writer to capture the city’s tumultuous first half of the 20th century from the lavish success of industrial barons to the chaos of civil war to the aftermath of General Francisco Franco’s political purges in Catalonia, where thousands were arrested, imprisoned, and murdered.

Zafón’s Barcelona is full of shadows and fog with intrigue on every corner. “Even his subplots have subplots,” Stephen King marvels. The book is full of marvelous characters ranging from the blind, piano-playing sylph Clara Barceló to the romantic bibliogeek Fermín Romero de Torres to the misguided millionaire Ricardo Aldaya.

After a long ride on the European bestseller lists, The Shadow of the Wind is enjoying much deserved success here in the States, thanks to a translated version by Lucia Graves. Part love story, part mystery thriller, part coming-of-age story, The Shadow of the Wind is a tribute to bibliophiles and writers who treasure a good book.

(Michael Beadle can be reached at mbeadle@haywood.k12.nc.us.)