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Ruta Sepetys: The Fountains of Silence

I love historical fiction, so when my book club (of English teachers) picked this one, I was really excited to read it.

The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys is about a boy named Daniel Matheson who travels to Spain in the 1950s. The leader of Spain, Franco, is ruthless and has an iron hold on his people. Daniel's father is an oil tycoon who wants his son to take over the business, while his mother is from Spain. Daniel doesn't want to join his father's business. He wants to become a photographer. His goal while in Spain is to take pictures worthy enough of a contest that he's working on. While there, Daniel meets Ana, a maid at the Hilton Hotel he's staying at. Ana is assigned to Daniel's family and attends to their every need. Ana's family is poor and this is an incredible job opportunity for her. Ana's family needs this job. Ana and Daniel become friends and start to fall in love with each other, something Ana seems hesitant about and Daniel knows his parents won't like. Will this forbidden love go anywhere? Will Daniel find out the dark secrets of Franco's Spain?

Some things I really enjoyed about this book:

  • I enjoyed that it rotated through perspectives. That's something that I really enjoy in a lot of novels that I've read, and this one was no different. I loved that it rotated through the various members of Ana's family as well as Ana and Daniel. It was good to see the story from each perspective.
  • I loved the historical insight into Spain post-WWII. I love history, but my knowledge of world history is a little lacking. This was a really fascinating read for me because I had no idea of the problems and the oppression in Spain. My mom and grandparents lived in Spain in the late 1960s, so it was interesting to talk about how they saw it.
    • Sepetys also included some secondary source documents in this: speeches, and interviews with officials who helped determine American policy toward Franco in the 1950s. These little interludes were interesting and helped give some perspective into the events of the story.
  • I loved the descriptions and the characters. I loved that Daniel stood up for what he wanted and didn't cave in to what his dad wanted.
Some things I didn't love about this book:
  • I hated the ending. I felt that Sepetys tried to rush to a conclusion and only haphazardly answered questions.
    • In particular, I felt that the story with Daniel's adopted sister is also Ana's niece wasn't tied up well and didn't actually conclude.
    • Ana also pulled this really interesting 180 shift. I didn't hate it, but this was an issue in my book club. I felt that I had to do some analytical gymnastics to fully connect Ana's old self with her new self. She ignores the status problems at the end that she was hyper-aware of at the beginning.
  • I got really tired of everyone having a secret. I felt the middle of the book dragged with a lot of set-up of problems that would semi-resolve later, but not enough new information to keep me interested in the novel.
Overall, I rate this book:
  • ⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5 based on the reasons above.
  • I rate this book PG-13 for violence and some sexual innuendo. 

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