While Foundations of Silence is a young adult book, Rita Sepetys has written a book that will appeal to historic fiction fans of all ages. Beginning in the 1950s, it was a time when tourists were returning to sunny Spain. While they enjoy the food and comfort of the hotels, Franco still has firm control of the people of Spain.
Daniel is a budding photojournalist from Texas who encounters the Guardia Civil after snapping a picture and learns that even tourists are not immune to that control. Visiting Spain with his parents before starting college, he meets Ana, an employee of his hotel, who will become the love of his life. While Daniel expresses himself through his photos, Ana has been raised in a culture where silence and caution is a matter of survival.
While a number of books have been written about the Spanish Civil War, the following years of Franco’s rule are not as often explored. Sepetys introduces the story of the lost babies, children taken at birth and placed with families that supported Franco’s regime. She writes with a sensitivity that touches the reader and ties this issue into Daniel and Ana’s stories. This was a story that will stay with the reader long after the last page has been read.
I would like to thank BookishFirst for providing this book for my review.
Daniel is a budding photojournalist from Texas who encounters the Guardia Civil after snapping a picture and learns that even tourists are not immune to that control. Visiting Spain with his parents before starting college, he meets Ana, an employee of his hotel, who will become the love of his life. While Daniel expresses himself through his photos, Ana has been raised in a culture where silence and caution is a matter of survival.
While a number of books have been written about the Spanish Civil War, the following years of Franco’s rule are not as often explored. Sepetys introduces the story of the lost babies, children taken at birth and placed with families that supported Franco’s regime. She writes with a sensitivity that touches the reader and ties this issue into Daniel and Ana’s stories. This was a story that will stay with the reader long after the last page has been read.
I would like to thank BookishFirst for providing this book for my review.