The Fountains of Silence, by Ruta Sepetys | A bittersweet snapshot of post war Spain

The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys
Published by Philomel Books ISBN: 0399160310
on October 1, 2019
Genres: Family, Historical, Military & Wars, Romance, Social Issues, Young Adult
Pages: 512
Read it as: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
My rating:
Check it out in Goodreads
Synopsis

A portrait of love, silence, and secrets under a Spanish dictatorship.

Madrid, 1957. Under the fascist dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, Spain is hiding a dark secret. Meanwhile, tourists and foreign businessmen flood into Spain under the welcoming promise of sunshine and wine. Among them is eighteen-year-old Daniel Matheson, the son of an oil tycoon, who arrives in Madrid with his parents hoping to connect with the country of his mother's birth through the lens of his camera.

Photography--and fate--introduce him to Ana, whose family's interweaving obstacles reveal the lingering grasp of the Spanish Civil War--as well as chilling definitions of fortune and fear. Daniel's photographs leave him with uncomfortable questions amidst shadows of danger. He is backed into a corner of difficult decisions to protect those he loves. Lives and hearts collide, revealing an incredibly dark side to the sunny Spanish city.

Includes vintage media reports, oral history commentary, photos, and more.

I feel like I need to totally unpack this book. There are so many layers I want to talk about, that I could probably do that for hours.

There were a lot of thoughts swirling in my head as I read, and I’m very excited to share them with you, and hopefully convince you to read this beautiful story.

First, you have to know I’ve previously read another book by the author, Salt to the Sea, and it became one of my favorite books, not only of 2018, but I think of EVER. To this day thinking about that story brings back so many feelings.

Reading Salt to the Sea was like diving into the cold sea: brisk, but with tremendous weight, achieved by incredible dialogue and symbolism. On the other hand, The Fountains of Silence was a slower exploration. It did take me quite a bit to finish, almost a whole month.

The Fountains of Silence is longer, with longer chapters, more drawn out scenes, and it was a completely different experience, that I enjoyed on its own way.

 

Let’s talk about the thematic importance of the characters

The author wastes nothing. Not a single word, and not a single character either. But let’s stick with the main ones. We have Ana, Daniel, Purificación ‘Puri’, and Rafael ‘Rafa’. While the story is mostly about Daniel and Ana, Puri’s and Rafa’s POVs add a lot to the story, so I consider them as main characters as well.

Let’s unpack them a bit so you can see why I’m so awed about this.

All of them have ties to Spain. But only Ana, Rafa and Puri have been living there their whole lives. Daniel is from the US, and his mother is spanish. He’s a tourist.

Then we have Ana and Rafa being set apart from Puri because the first two are siblings, and Puri is their cousin. The siblings’ parents were killed by the dictatorship, and they live in fear of losing all the progress they’ve made with their lives. They’re afraid of many things and find the way to deal with that every single day.

Puri on the other hand, she… well she has been raised to follow the rules to be a good spanish. She’s naive, but has a good heart, which is what allows her to begin questioning some things.

Then between Ana and Rafa, the differences are strong. Rafa works at the butchery, and also has a shift at the cementery. He seems optimist, but the poor guy has been through SO MUCH.

While Ana works at the Castellana Hilton, catering to guests from the US, and hopeful that this will be a step in the right direction for her.

Each of them is so different! Daniel being the farthest away from the others’ experience. But there’s a scene about halfway in that had me almost in tears. It’s a couple of scenes, actually.

Puri goes to confession, and so does Daniel, Ana, and Rafa. Not at the same time, but we get each of their confessions side by side. And it’s so perfect because in a few pages, Ruta Sepetys ties their experiences together, and then clearly ennunciates how they differ.

Rafa loves confession

Julia is grateful for confession

Ana fears confession

Puri hates confession

I absolutely loved this. These are the last sentences of each of these chapters, by the way. And Daniel’s missing, but you get my drift. This lady knows what she’s doing.

 

Our right to other people’s history

I did wonder at one point about the authors’ motivation to write this story. Considering all the conversations about diversity, representation… I began feeling a little weird about reading a book about Spain, written by a white author. I was enjoying the story, but who am I to judge how accurate this representation was, right?

The story itself ended up giving me the answer way before I read the author’s note at the end.

There are a couple of instances where Daniel reflects on how alien the spanish experience is to him. How far removed he is from these people’s lives, even though he’s right there as well. Even with his spanish mother. He realizes how little he understands.

At one point he says to another character ‘I want to understand’.

And if my memory serves me right, the answer is: ‘What right do you have to our history?’

That’s when it really sank for me that Daniel sort of embodies Ruta Sepetys’ own position as the outlier who will never really understand, but wants to somehow help?

I can’t speak for the reading experience of an spanish reader. But for me, as an ecuadorian, this whole story felt like an invitation to learn more. I felt it was done respectfully, mindful of the deep pain embedded in this period of history.

I don’t get this vibe that the author is saying they know best, or as if she’s speaking over someone else. It feels more like she’s using her priviledge to bring attention to this story, and that’s what historical fiction does best.

And I know it’s not part of the story itself, but the Author’s Note at the end sealed the deal for me. I love how she talks about her research (we’ll get into that in a bit) and explicitly invites us to learn more about the facts from memoirs and other non fiction books, just as she did.

 

The author really, really loved writing this

It’s just… It’s so so easy to love this book because I can see clear as day how much love the author put into making it!

From the parts in spanish that don’t feel like an afterthought, the attention to the characters’ experiences, to the bits of research at the end…

The whole thing gives me a feeling of joy because it feels like we’ve unearthed something together and every page brought me closer to it.

 

The ending was everything my book club would’ve wanted fixed in the ending of Salt to the Sea

Funny story: We read Salt to the Sea in my local book club, and most of the comments about the ending was that it seemed too abrupt. And I do get it. I think it packs so much of a punch precisely because of that, but at the same time that feeling of wanting more is so bittersweet!

The Fountains of Silence doesn’t suffer from this at all. The ending doesn’t skip over things! We get a nice conclusion to the story. By this I don’t necessarily mean it’s an all around happy conclusion. Only that it’s more complete and not as open-ended as Salt to the Sea, which may appeal to some people. From my end, at first I was suspicious of what felt like a drawn out epilogue, but then I realized why it was necessary. I liked it and I’m happy with it!

[divider]

Overall, The Fountains of Silence is a beautiful story that has Ruta Sepetys’ trademark amazing writing, but she also aptly shapes it into something that fit the story she wanted to tell. She did it in a way that isn’t so much of a period, but a comma. A contribution, and an invitation to get us interested in these stories about this history.

I’m really glad I took my time to read it.

Related Posts