The Fountains of Silence Book Review

• Heart-wrenching and beautiful story about a historical event you probably didn’t know about
• Characters you connect to immediately
• Excellent writing without a bunch of the purple prose historical fiction sometimes has
• Variety of perspectives from diverse POV characters
• Sweet love story that is deeply engrained in the main plot

The Fountains of Silence is a touching, educational and fascinating historical fiction novel following the very different lives of a handful of teenagers in Spain during the Franco dictatorship. The two main characters are Daniel, an American visiting Spain with his family and staying in a super ritzy hotel, and Ana, a young Spanish girl working in the hotel trying to make money to support her family. With a couple other more minor point of view characters, we get a well-rounded, stunning story about how fear, love and injustice often comingle in our world.

This was my first Ruta Sepetys novel, and I see why the bookseller raved about her when I bought it. Her writing style is what stood out to me the most. It had a simple elegance to it that conveyed emotions in a tangible way without being weighed down by heavy purple prose. It read effortlessly, yet was filled with a depth and rawness that displayed the essence of what the characters were feeling. It is typically classified as Young Adult, though even Sepetys admits it skews towards the upper end of that age-rage. Though I’m confident most adults would enjoy this book as well. 

Instead of being stuffed with descriptions, the story focuses on the characters, what they were feeling, how they viewed the Spain of that time and the Franco dictatorship, and where they turned to for hope. Sepetys excels at making these characters real people and using them to convey the mood in the country. For each perspective we get a sense of what they fear, what excites them, what motivates them, and what they are willing to fight for. And the wonderful thing about this particular book is that Sepetys does a masterful job at creating a diverse set of characters and perspectives. From the misplaced joy at the hotel, to the tension of the constant fear Ana and her family suffered. The wealth of alternative perspectives is such a truthful depiction of the complicated world Spain must have been in that time. 

I love historical fiction because when it is well done, it allows me to step into history and feel like I’m there. The multiple points of views helped with this a lot. It provided a well-rounded view of the time period and place, showing the misconceptions outsiders might have had, and boy did it relay the constant state of fear some people were in during the Franco dictatorship.

When you look at the plot, you see why Sepetys is a master. It was an artful way to capture snapshots of life under a dictatorship. The story lends itself well to showing both the horrors of the oppression, and the resilience of the people. This is truly a story of perseverance and hope brought to life by the characters. 

Rarely do I read a book where all the different pieces fit so well together. The big one for me was the sweet romance story between Daniel and Ana. I wouldn’t even call it a subplot because it was so entangled with the main plot that it really drove the story forward in major ways. I love that. I love that it didn’t feel like an afterthought. That it was slow building and beautiful. That it helped the characters grow. It was meant to be a part of the story, and you could tell. On top of that, she also includes snippets of historical quotes and news stories from the outside world commenting on the Franco Dictatorship. Usually these kind of flourishes have gloss-over quality to them. But I found myself looking forward to each one because they complemented the main story so well in displaying the ignorance of the outside world to the horrors some of the Spanish people faced.

I had never heard of the Franco dictatorship in Spain before this book. Now, I get a sense of what it might have been like to live in it and that terror that never seemed to go away for some. The best thing about this book is how eye-opening it was. The compelling story and well-developed characters combine to elicit a strong emotional response in the reader that is hard to ignore. Only the best of books accomplish this. 

This book is not going to have some of the super fast-paced, action-packed adventure some of us might be used to in YA. But please don’t let that deter you. Sepetys’ writing is brisk, not heavy, and relatable. This, along with the different perspectives never made it feel slow to me. I got to really take in this world and the people she was introducing me to. That alone prevented it from venturing into boring for me.