The Fountains of Silence was my October Book of the Month YA Choice - I love the Book of the Month Service so much because it encourage me to step outside of the genres I tend to gravitate towards - typically fantasy or contemporary romance. So in October I decided to change it up and go with a historical fiction.
It took me a minute to get into this one, but once I did - WOW! This book was beautiful and about so much more than a star-crossed romance.
⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Fountains of Silence Ruta Sepetys 512 Pages | Published by Philomel Books
The Fountains of Silence is set in 1957 and tells the story of Daniel, a young man and aspiring photographer on holiday with his parents in Madrid, and Ana, an employee of the hotel. Ana helps Daniel learn about the "real" Spain - not the version that fascist dictator General Franco would have the world believe. The two, along with Ana's family, are lead to begin asking questions about the divides created during the Spanish Civil War.
Daniel and Ana were a brilliant couple - I loved the two of them together. Ana seemed quiet and thoughtful but also was clearly strong and capable. What I appreciated most about Daniel's character is his respect for Ana, her wishes, and her country. I think it could have been very easy to make Daniel the big American hero, thinking that needs saving. Instead Daniel was observant, and took very seriously that there were things about her world that he did not understand.
Throughout the book, Sepetys included quotes from world leaders and journalists to provide historical context which I really appreciated, and I finished the book feeling like I had actually learned a bit more about that time period in Spain.
I love a book written from multiple POVs, and I thought that Sepetys did an excellent job moving between Daniel, Ana, and her extended family members ,including her brother Rafa and her cousin, Puri. The story-lines blended perfectly, drawing together the class struggles that Ana and Daniel were facing and the look into the adoption scandal taking place within the church.
This was my first historical fiction in quite some time, and I'm so glad I decided to mix it up! It was also the first I've read anything from Ruta Sepetys, but I'll definitely be adding more of her work to my to-read list! Her writing style was beautiful, and this was definitely a book I will be recommending to others, even those who are not typically YA readers.
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