The Fountains fo Silence - Ruta Sepetys

This book had everything for me. Moving, emotional, thrilling, historically engaging and genuinely informative. All the stars for this one.

Set in Spain under Franco’s dictatorship, The Fountains of Silence follows Daniel, a young American visiting Madrid with his family, and Ana, a Spanish teenager working at the hotel where he is staying. Daniel arrives with the freedom and privilege of an outsider, while Ana’s life is shaped by poverty, fear and the consequences of living under a regime where people have learned that sometimes it is safer to stay silent. Their lives begin to cross and Daniel starts to realise that the Spain being presented to tourists is very different from the reality experienced by the people living there.

I absolutely loved this. It manages to be a really engrossing story while also introducing a period of history that I knew nowhere near enough about. I came away wanting to find out more about Franco’s Spain- always a massive positive for me with historical fiction.

There’s romance, family, secrets, danger and some genuinely heartbreaking moments, but it never felt as though the history was forgotten about. The political situation affects everything the characters do and that makes the story feel incredibly tense at times.

It’s also a great example of a book that can introduce teenage readers to history without feeling like they are being taught it. You learn because you care about what is happening to the characters.

This is definitely an older YA recommendation for me. There are some difficult and upsetting themes, but they have a purpose and are rooted in the historical context rather than being there for shock value.

Emotional, gripping and completely absorbing. One of those books where you finish it feeling like you’ve both read a brilliant story and learned something. An easy five stars from me.

Age: KS4+
Difficulty: Challenging
Themes: Dictatorship, Freedom, Family, Love, Secrets, Spanish history
My verdict: Emotional, gripping and completely absorbing.

An easy 5/5. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐