Carlos Ruiz Zafón, author of The Shadow of the Wind, in conversation with Writers Bloc Presents founder Andrea Grossman.

Magic imbues the city of Barcelona. That is a truism, and anyone who has been to Barcelona knows it and feels it. Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s novels, his gorgeous and sprawling novels that all inhabit Barcelona, all glow with magic, and with magical realism.

Ruiz Zafón’s novels tell stories about bookstores and books that lead to the discovery of love, of enmity, of passion and violence. They remind us that the terror of the Spanish Revolution is still palpable, and that healing comes through understanding the treasures and secrets of the past —through books and literature. These books almost gothic in the most fun sense of the word.

The Shadow of the Wind begins the epic trilogy, culminating in his new novel, The Prisoner of Heaven. The protagonists are book store owners, writers, and literature itself. He weaves Spanish and Catalan history into the narratives, and thus provides a cultural context for his Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a cultural treasure that only a chosen few individuals know about, or remember.

Ruiz Zafón’s novels are required reading for understanding the heart and soul of 20th century Barcelona.

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