We have only died if you forget us.
The Fountains of Silence
by Ruta Sepetys
Genre: Historical Fiction
About: Spain, 1957. The oil rich Matheson family come to Madrid to sign a contract with Franco, but their son, Daniel, comes to the city for something else. Half-Spanish himself, he wants to understand how life really is for the people living under a dictatorship, and he's brought his camera.
The Good
A lot of good research and heart has gone into this novel. Sepetys has a beautiful voice that easily drew me in. In particular, the way she brought bullfighting into the story was something I found surprisingly compelling. As someone who is against bullfighting, I was impressed by how she made me care about these characters through their passion and idolisation of this sport. From the art of the costume-making, to the elitism of training, as well as the sense of celebrity awarded to the matador, all these details felt respectfully done.
But while she does well adding in bits of Spanish culture, the really clever move was to shape the story around an outsider with a talent for photography. I loved the descriptions of Daniel's photographs. The small little moments he captured worked well to make the reader continually contrast the different lifestyles shown and question something that's actually very complex. Was America's financial support of a dictator the reason Franco stayed in power for so long? Or did American money and influence chip away at an austere environment and open Spain out to the rest of the world? I liked that Sepetys inserted historical accounts from US sources, giving their contemporary views of Spain's political situation, but that she leaves it open to the reader to consider if the US was right or wrong to be in the country at that time.
The Bad
This novel did have moments where it felt like two different genres. One was a very thoughtful and emotional historical fiction, the other was a homage to Spanish soap operas. There's a long lost twin storyline, a I-didn't-know-I-was-adopted one, threatening anonymous letters, an ex-girlfriend shows up unexpectedly, and there's a very dramatic final-words-as-I-die-in-your-arms scene... I didn't have a problem with any one troupe or scene in particular and I don't want to take away from how emotional some of those moments were to read, especially given that there is truth behind some of these reveals. Children were stolen, twins were separated, people were murdered. Yet when I think about how these very dramatic events were all connected to one single family, a soap opera begins to show itself. I would have preferred for a more realistic portrayal with degrees of separation between the characters - Puri didn't have to be their cousin for example, or the Matheson's didn't have to adopt Clover. Those full circle moments don't feel real to me.
And while the start of the novel had real tension in its pages - I expected more consequences for Daniel, not for him to leave Spain with his negatives, win the award and go travel the world with his camera.
There was also a bit of a problem for me in how all the characters reacted to Daniel and Ana. Everyone felt like they were very aware that Daniel and Ana were the main characters in this story. The way Nick was constantly hanging around both of them, or how Ben was so invested in their relationship, or that Buttons had all the convenient gossip for them... Other people had interesting stories and lives and I liked many of the characters, but for all the side characters to show the level of interest that they did in both Daniel and Ana made it too obvious who the stars of the show were supposed to be.
The Somewhat Iffy
Time skips are hard for me to read without feeling a loss of connection to the characters. This one had an eighteen year time skip and I just didn't believe Daniel or Ana wouldn't have either reconnected during those years or simply moved on. Eighteen and thirty-six are two very different life stages.
I also really didn't believe Lorenza's character. She made a good spy, but I didn't believe she was Rafa's girlfriend or had ever been interested in Fuga. All we saw of her was her fascination with money and Americans. Her being a jilted lover getting revenge on Rafa and Fuga didn't make sense to me.
And I didn't understand what exactly Daniel's letters to the US Embassy would have accused Van Dorn of? That he was a creep who tried to have sex with his maid? Or that he lied about Ana stealing a bracelet? Were we supposed to believe Daniel was naïve enough to think accusations of that nature would have had any affect on a powerful man?
Overall
Although a work of fiction, this novel provides a lens to an important part of history. The writing is beautiful, the pacing is perfect and there's so much empathy in these pages for the suffering the Spanish people went through. From the very first quote, I had goose bumps.
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