by: Ruta Sepetys
narrated by: Maite Jáuregui, Richard Ferrone, Neil Hellegers, Joshua Kane, Liza Kaplan, & Oliver Wyman
rating: really liked
The setting is Madrid in 1957. Spain is under a fascist dictatorship and hiding its dark secrets while tourists and foreign businessmen flock to Spain to bask in the sunshine and wine. Eighteen-year-old Daniel is in Spain with his parents to connect to his mother's birthplace and take care of some of his father's business interests. But Daniel is more concerned with capturing the true Spain through his camera lens. Ana is the maid assigned to Daniel's family at their hotel, but Daniel is drawn to her beauty and through Ana he wants to get to see behind the façade Spain has erected for visitors to fawn over and to the truth of the havoc the Spanish Civil War has left in its wake.
Full of perspectives from Daniel and Ana and others as the story progresses, we really get to see many different facets of Spain during this time. And how these stories intersect is interesting and made for a very engaging read. Sepetys writes with short chapters and intersperses real historical commentary and media reports throughout that really ground you in this time and place and culture.
To hear more about my thoughts on this book, please go listen to the Two Babes and a Book podcast Episode 68: The Fountains of Silence where I got to be a guest host and discuss this great title!
コメント