The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The story began in a cemetery. However, it was not an ordinary cemetery, it was the Cemetery of Forgotten books. The place where a young boy who recently lost his mother adopted a book. From the most innocent of beginnings unravelled a tale of mystery, murder, betrayal and love. The Shadow of the Wind follows the story of young Daniel Sempere and his efforts to unravel the truth behind the little known life of the book's author Julian Carax. Always lurking in the background is the sinister figure of evil incarnate himself.

This was such a subtly intriguing book. Eventhough it was translated from Spanish to English, the intricate storyline was not compromised.

Each character was explored in depth and the sights and sounds of 1950s Barcelona came alive with each turn of the page. I was enthralled by the multi-layered plot and with the end of each chapter came more questions begging to be answered.

No surprise that it was proclaimed as a New York Times Bestseller. A beautiful story for all book lovers.

"The art of reading is slowly dying, it's an intimate ritual, a book is a mirror that offers us only what we already carry inside us, when we read, we do it with all our heart and mind, and great readers are becoming more scarce by the day."
-The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafon-

Rating: 4/5 (thanks to allergyc for noticing that I forgot..hehe)