Ana works at the Castellana Hilton Madrid, formerly a palace, and now an opulent hotel for Americans in Generalísimo Franco’s Spain. The fascist dictator is encouraging “American diplomats, actors, and musicians” to visit the country again, to “socialize and mingle into the pale hours of morning.” Ana meets Daniel Matheson, the earnest son of an oil tycoon who prefers photography and journalism to the family business. Ana and Daniel feel an undeniable attraction. But, for most Spaniards, the present under Franco is a desperate struggle. As the connection between Ana and Daniel grows, so does Daniel’s awareness of the atrocities teeming below the surface of the Madrid which he as a tourist is allowed to see, atrocities which include the fate of Ana’s parents and the plight of her desperately poor family.
I’ve tried to understand how I was so quickly drawn into a novel whose subject I know nothing about, and I’ve decided it’s mainly two things which sound—deceptively--simple: the author immediately grounds readers in a specific place and she gives us characters we care about. Right away she sets a powerful scene, vividly describing the line outside the butcher shop, and the boy who works there doling out blood. On the next pages, we learn how he witnessed the death of his father, and, by the time we get to one of the main characters, Ana, we are hooked. Ana and the glowing splendor of the hotel are described in stark relief to the previous pages, and they, too, draw readers in. There’s also plenty of tension provided by the menacing soldiers and stifling restrictions citizens endure—and Daniel stumbles onto—which have been set in place by the dictator Franco.
Sepetys intersperses her saga with historical documents and photographs, tying the very human face of her narrative to the actual struggles of Spain and its people after the Spanish Civil War. It’s masterfully done!
Or so I think. Have you read THE FOUNTAINS OF SILENCE? What do you think?
--Lynn
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