WOW... a leave your heart aching and full at the same time...amazing WOW. The only bad thing about finishing a book by Ruta Sepetys is that I won't have another one of her books to read until she writes and publishes a new one. I am fearful I won't be able to find another book for quite awhile that will satisfy me like The Fountains of Silence. This is one of those books that does not come around often. The story takes place after the Spanish Civil War when Franco becomes the dictator of Spain with the help of Hitler and Mussolini. It spans the 36 years that Franco remains dictator. What happened to the stolen children of Spain under Franco? Were children born to Republicans stolen by doctors, nuns and priests so that they could be raised by families devoted to Franco? This is something I had no idea about and Sepetys brought it to light in a vivid, descriptive way that made me feel as if I lived through it personally. I actually feel like I lived in the story, almost as if I was an intruder in the lives of the characters, a fly on the wall. Ruta Sepetys is an awesome, powerful, commanding storyteller. She spent 8 years researching this book and it surely shows. Stop whatever you are reading now and start The Fountains of Silence, then when you are finished with this book make sure to read her other books they are all equally as exceptional.