An Intricate Look Amidst the Sound Of Silence

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There's a saying that has gone around for a long time and made especially famous by the duo of Simon & Garfunkel, in regards to the sound of silence. We might think that silence, by its definition has no sound, yet how many times have we been in a place where a moment of silence was asked for, or we walked into an especially quiet environment? If you are anything like me, you realize that there is such an intriguing sound to silence, one that is often deafening in its own right.

So too does this sound of silence carry greatly in "The Fountains of Silence" by Ruta Sepetys, a profoundly moving and rather intricate look at Franco-ruled Spain in the 1950s. While this may be classified as YA, or teen literature, I would implore anyone who enjoys historical fiction to set down that burgeoning pile of to-reads, and pick this particular title up first. Using a tried-yet-true formula of having each chapter be told from a different character perspective, you really get to see the underlying rot that lay bubbling under the surface. Franco is probably the least well-known of the trio of strongman that have come to define the mid 20th century, (the others obviously being Stalin and Hitler), and Ruta does a fantastic job with the story of Ana and Daniel especially, of conveying the subtle and not-so that demonstrate just how closed and guarded you had to be to survive. The fact that Daniel is a photographer was perhaps a not-so subtle and yet still vividly effective reminder that sometimes the only way to understand something is finding a way to freeze time to study and get under it, even if its only just a little portion or for just a little bit of time.

This is not going to be a book that you will be able to finish in a day or two, but only because you'll be too invested in exploring, like I did, the ways in which all of the people highlighted in this (Ana's family primarily, as well as a few on Daniel's side) interact with one another. Giving the "story" to historical fiction that is lacking sometimes in other books out there, "The Fountains of Silence" is without a doubt worth the biceps you'll get from holding onto this a bit over 500 page epic! Highly recommended.