Review: After reading a slew of glowing reviews and learning that Ruta Sepetys' latest novel takes place during the Spanish Civil War, I had high expectations and looked forward to reading it. Unfortunately, I had a really hard time with this book and encountered many issues which distracted me from enjoying it.
Aspiring photographer Daniel Matheson is visiting Spain with his Texas oil tycoon father. Daniel is eager for the opportunity to flesh out his portfolio for a photography contest, perhaps an insider look at the daily life in Franco's Spain, but he gets repeated warnings, some quite aggressive, against looking too closely. Daniel is also ill prepared to start a possible relationship with Ana, a beautiful and overly qualified maid at the Castellana Hilton, where he’s staying with his parents. As their relationship starts to grow and their affection for one another deepens, so do their stark differences: Ana, daughter of executed anti-Fascists, lives a tightly constrained existence, while Daniel has privileges and is unaware of the harm he puts Ana in.
While I overall liked the plot of The Fountains of Silence, I had a very hard time getting into the book. The book moves very slowly despite the multiple points of views of different characters pinging from page to page. The constant shifts from character to character did not allow me to connect to any of them. I liked Daniel and Ana just fine, but I was not invested in their story as I should be and did not get emotional as their romance hit bumps. This book would have been much better if it limited the number of point of views and expanded on them to show the reader their slice of life under Franco's dictatorship. There is a subplot of the story that eventually intrigued me and I was eager to learn more about it as Sepetys slowly unspools the plot, but it only skimmed the surface which made me frustrated as I stuck with this page through all of its 512 pages and sighed, "that's it?"
There is no doubt Sepetys did her research thoroughly and painstakingly as evidenced by quotes, photographs in between chapters and an extensive bibliography list found at the end of the book. This book will appeal to die hard historical fiction fans, but might not work for the average reader who will likely find its slow pace, length, and writing style to be too daunting.
Rating: 3 stars
Words of Caution: There are disturbing images including mentions of torture and execution, allusions to sexual harassment, and scenes of bull fighting,
If you like this book try: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafron
Rating: 3 stars
Words of Caution: There are disturbing images including mentions of torture and execution, allusions to sexual harassment, and scenes of bull fighting,
If you like this book try: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafron
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Oh no! I really enjoyed this book, though not as much as her two previous books.