I had never heard of Carlos Ruiz Zafon till I caught some discussion about him on Radio 4, (thinking person's radio station in UK). The Shadow of the Wind is set in Barcelona, Spain shortly after the end of the Civil War, and the protagonist, Daniel, is a small boy living with his widowed father, who is a lover of books, and keeps a bookshop. One morning, the father takes little Daniel to a a strange, labyrinthine library which is a secret cemetry for forgotten books. The custodian of this strange place is an old and wise patriarch called Isaac. Daniel is told to select a book which will be a big influence in his life, and is inexplicably drawn to a work by an almost unheard-of author called Julian Carax. He devours this book, reading it overnight because its magic fills him with excitement.

However, it seems that the only person who knows anything about the mysterious Julian Carax is Isaac's heart-stoppingly lovely, blind daughter, Claudia, who a lot older than Daniel. Little Daniel basically gets a crush on the girl, and starts to read for her in exchange for information about Carax. At about the same time, a sinister figure in a big black hat begins to watch Daniel's house, and there is a feeling of some dread but undefined threat from this person, not just to Daniel but also to Claudia.

Daniel is compelled to investigate the life of Carax and in doing so, comes to the attention of an evil fascist policeman called Fumero. It is very clear where the author's sympathies lie, because under the dictatorship of General Franco, all liberal views or behaviour (such as pre-marital sex, homosexuality, left wing politics etc) are seen as subversive and are suppressed with great brutality by a police force which seems to act with total impunity. Obviously there are many Spaniards who would not share this view, but then again, there are many who would. And now, 30 years after the death of Franco, there are a lot who could not care one way or the other.

As the novel unfolds, Daniel grows up, the threats from the dangerous and sadistic Fumero become more blatant, and Daniel's love interest shifts from Claudia to little Bea, the sister of the best friend of his childhood. The young people, intoxicated by their hormones, behave as most of us do under the circumstances, and of course Daniel is in hot water with Bea's father and brother. The investigation into who Carax was, and the details of his life keep the reader in a sustained state of suspense and curiosity throughout the novel, which builds towards a violent crescendo. The style of writing is beautiful, and full of wonderful poetic characterizations, and I would recommend it unreservedly.

However, I checked out some of the reviews on Amazon, and while most are enthusiastic, there are some that deem it to be poorly constructed and not worth reading. I suppose it is like Marmite, you either love it or hate it. Personally I loved it.