The Fountains of Silence
Ratings29
Average rating4.5
15
Ratings29
Average rating4.5
--*Madrid, 1957*--
**UNDER THE OPPRESSIVE 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 lends 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.
Master storyteller Ruta Sepetys once again shines light into one of history's darkest corners in this epic, heart-wrenching novel about identity, unforgettable love, repercussions of war, and the hidden violence of silence--inspired by the true postwar struggles of Spain.
Includes vintage media reports, oral history commentary, photos, and more.
This description comes from the publisher.
Reviews with the most likes.
jó volt kicsit spanyolország történelmébe belekukkantani, de a twitterfonalnyi fejezetek az elején követhetetlenné tették, ki kicsoda, és mit és miért csinál, aztán meg egyszerűen csak nem engedtek jobban belesimulni a sztoriba.
The overall feeling I had when reading this book was a kind of sadness, I guess; a mourning for the culture that was lost during the years that Franco ruled the country. The other big feeling I had reading this was anger at the system and fascism in general. All in all, this was a great book, though the ending felt a teeny bit rushed. I also feel like there was a lot of backstory that went undiscovered and like there was just too much story for this one-off medium length novel.
I went into this with high expectations because I've devoured and loved and sobbed at every other Sepetys book. As always, I was anxious to learn about history that I, unfortunately, knew very little about. And the book did accomplish that much. I was disappointed by this one in a few ways, though. There were so many characters and so many POVs that I kept forgetting who was who. It jumped around a lot in POV and made it a little confusing to keep up. The pacing was dreadfully slow. Like ... slooooooooow. It makes me sad because I know this book had so much potential, knowing how incredible of a writer Sepetys is. But it fell flat. There was hardly any emotion, which was odd as it dealt with SUCH heavy and heartbreaking topics. Coming out of this, I felt like I learned about history, but not read a novel.
