I recently read The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys. Thank you Bookish First for the Advanced Reader Copy! Sidenote here: it’s a great way to get free physical ARCs! If you want to join and use referral code 56cf541090ca608b4 you can help me get free books and be on your way to getting free books too. Anyway, this book occurs during Franco’s Spain and I liked it a lot.
Maybe I wasn’t paying attention, but I don’t think Franco’s Spain got a lot of publicity (or maybe it’s because he died in 1975). I don’t remember ever learning about it in school, except for maybe a sentence or two. He was a brutal dictator for decades. It’s only been in the last year or so that I’ve started to hear details about how his people suffered under his rule. The Fountains of Silence paints a vivid portrait of what it might have been like to live during this time.
Ana was a maid at an upscale hotel that catered to Americans shortly after the Franco regime started to do business with them. Daniel is a son of an oil tycoon whose parents want him to follow in the family business. He wants to be a photographer instead. He needs to take some brilliant photos while in Spain in order to get a scholarship to go to the school he wants without his parent’s financial aid. Daniel stays at Ana’s hotel for several weeks while his parents conduct business. Ana helps him with his photographs, and they quickly discover that they are compatible. Unfortunately, Ana isn’t supposed to fraternize with hotel guests, and Daniel’s family would prefer him to be with someone in his class.
Ana and Daniel aren’t the only characters of note here. Ana’s cousin Puri works at an orphanage. Her brother’s friend Fuga wants to be a bullfighter. There are corrupt businessmen, a friendly photo developer, and people to watch out for at the hotel. All these characters work together to paint a picture that helps the reader see what it would be like to live in Spain during the 1950s.
I don’t want to give too much away, but there’s danger, love, and a satisfying ending. The book is well-written, and the characters are memorable. The puzzle pieces of this book come together at the end very nicely.
The Fountains of Silence comes out on October 1st (like so many good books are this year) and I highly recommend it.