The Fountains of Silence is a haunting and beautiful story about young people in Spain during the fascist years of Francisco Franco. I love that Ruta Sepetys has taken a subject rarely covered in historical fiction and made it come alive by telling the story through the eyes of Ana, her brother Rafa, their cousin Puri and American Daniel Matheson, a son of a Spanish mother and an oil magnate father from Texas. She manages to create both a desperate and hopeful picture of the future from the eyes of people that suffered under the dictatorship of Franco, and give you the perspective of an outsider that walks in ignorant but through his love of storytelling through photography and his feelings for Ana begins to understand just how different the world can be from his comfortable upbringing. In addition to telling the story of repression during Franco's reign it also delves into the shameful history of stealing babies from the poor and the "Reds" during this time. These characters are thoroughly likeable, the storytelling is fantastic and the knowledge gained is unforgettable.