The Fountains of Silence

This was such an elegantly written book with a veneer of sunshine covering deep sadness. It is amazing how the author could convey such things so perfectly. It may have been historical fiction but there were many facts in this novel. I was drawn in by the story of Ana and Daniel, which was really good and really sad but it was also cool to see the various parts of Madrid through the eyes of Puri and Rafa and Julia too. There were two Madrids, the one that the tourists lived in and then the hidden Madrid. I also enjoyed the real life bits too, the historical statements by presidents and ambassadors and other about how Spain was during the reign of Franco. And then how it was all tied in with the stolen babies of Spain. This was a well written book and would be enjoyed by people of all ages.

In the beginning, it took me a few chapters to get used to the point of view because I think (I don’t know the technical term) it was some kind of omnipotent 3rd person point of view. Each chapter jumped from character to character and you were able to see into that character’s thoughts even though it was told in 3rd person. It was harder to get into because I don’t think many stories are told that way, but I really liked it. Because of the point of view, I think that really helped to make the characters become more rounded, realistic and dynamic. As soon as I started reading, I wanted to learn everything about them and it felt like they were real. Even though one of the relationships probably could be categorized as “insta-love” I didn’t feel that way while I was reading. The interactions between everyone were so smooth and flawless. The atmosphere also felt very real and beautiful to me. I always had a very vivid image in my head picturing the place, people, and actions. I loved how we would never get a full explanation (I mean, by the end, stuff made sense, but I’m talking about the rest of the story). We would get a little information here, a little more there, but it felt like the more questions the author answered, the more questions you had. I read most of the book in one day because I always had a question that needed to be answered right then. Ruta Sepetys does a brilliant job of grabbing onto your attention, and never letting go. If you don’t like short chapters, you might not enjoy the experience as much because the chapters were probably all under 4 pages long. I personally really liked it because it made me feel like I was making so much progress super quickly. Also, I absolutely loved the short articles or quotes from real people that were added between chapters. It reminded you that this is real history and many people had to live through this. The pacing was a little slow because the story was very character-driven. There weren’t a lot of plot points, because it was mostly everyday life and what that would look like for people in this era (that probably makes it sound very boring, but I promise, there’s more than the characters just living). I thought the denouement was slightly unsatisfactory. I’m not exactly sure how to explain it, but something just felt off. I’m sorry, I don’t know how to put it into words :P