The Fountains of Silence

by Ruta Sepetys

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

I knew early in this book that The Fountains of Silence would be a five star read for me.

Ruta Sepetys has such a beautiful writing style that brings the past to life in such a way that it feels modern day, and I absolutely adore it. The way she wrote… this book made me feel so many different things. It made me smile, and it clawed at my heart. It made me angry, as so many of the injustice of history do. I wanted the love story, and I wanted the sleuthing. I wanted all of it. And I also wish that the event that inspired it never had to happen.

The Fountains of Silence revolves around the stories of Daniel and Ana, as well as a few of their loved ones. We enter the story in the late 1950s, when Franco is still in power and the people of Spain live in a constant state of fear. The mood of the country came across to the point it gave me chills – and yet? The artificial cheer of the hotel felt exactly like the way the tourist trade goes, where naive and rich outsiders are encouraged to come and pour some money into the economy and see nothing of the truth. There are a lot of things going on right away in the story – from Ana’s secret to Daniel’s struggle with his family, to Fuga’s aspirations… every character in this book is keeping secrets and every character wants more, though most as afraid to reach for it. But this is not a whimsical fantasy and to reach above one’s station can have real, fatal consequences.

In particular, the writing style appealed to me. While Ruta Sepetys writes very well and brought Madrid to life, I appreciated the snippets and short chapters. Daniel is a photographer, and each chapter felt like a photograph captured of a moment for each of the different characters. Not all photographs are pretty – most of them are painful – but the style worked perfectly with the character of the novel. Even the historical documents and quotes included enhanced the story, and I do not normally enjoy those. The style of writing also helped keep a brisk, trotting pace, which made the middle feel even more dire as one after another, things began to fall apart.

Fall apart in the best way. The kind of way that keeps you on the edge of your seat like, “No, nothing else could possibly go wrong… could it?”

It is easy to care about the plot not only because it is based in truth, but because each of the characters is so likable. They are rounded and real and you absolutely care about what happens to each of them. Even more detached characters like Fuga and Antonio have something to offer the reader so you want to pick up their torch. You want to see justice for everyone. I even found myself rooting for the love story, which longtime blog readers know is untypical for me and my jaded heart.

I’ve heard a few people talking about The Fountains of Silence as one of the good books they read last year, but I am utterly convinced that not enough people have been screaming about it, so let me add my voice to the masses. The Fountains of Silence is a powerful book about fear and love and injustice and secrets and it is beautiful and heartbreaking and it absolutely must be read. Don’t read historical fiction? Start with this book and see if it changes your mind.