Carlos Ruiz Zafón – författare

THE MODERN CLASSIC: OVER 20 MILLION COPIES SOLDA Sunday Times bestseller and a Richard & Judy book club pick'The real deal: one gorgeous read' Stephen King'This book will change your life. An instant classic' Daily Telegraph'A book lover's dream' The Times Hidden in the heart of the old city of Barcelona is the 'Cemetery of Lost Books', a labyrinthine library of obscure and forgotten titles that have long gone out of print. To this library, a man brings his 10-year-old son Daniel one cold morning in 1945. Daniel is allowed to choose one book from the shelves and pulls out 'The Shadow of the Wind' by Julian Carax.But as he grows up, several people seem inordinately interested in his find. Then, one night, as he is wandering the old streets once more, Daniel is approached by a figure who reminds him of a character from the book, a character who turns out to be the devil. This man is tracking down every last copy of Carax's work in order to burn them. What begins as a case of literary curiosity turns into a race to find out the truth behind the life and death of Julian Carax and to save those he left behind...'Marvellous' Sunday Times'A hymn of praise to all the joys of reading' Independent'Gripping and instantly atmospheric' Mail on Sunday'Irresistibly readable' Guardian'Diabolically good' Elle

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER'Magnificent: a dizzying tale of drama, intrigue and passion' MAIL ON SUNDAY'A colossal, genre-crossing achievement' GUARDIANAs a child, Daniel Sempere discovered among the passageways of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books an extraordinary novel that would change the course of his life. Now a young man in the Barcelona of the late 1950s, Daniel runs the Sempere & Sons bookshop and enjoys a seemingly fulfilling life with his loving wife and son. Yet the mystery surrounding the death of his mother continues to plague his soul.Just when Daniel believes he is close to solving this enigma, a conspiracy more sinister than he could have imagined spreads its tentacles from the hellish Franco regime. That is when Alicia Gris appears, a soul born out of the nightmare of the war. She is the one who will lead Daniel to the edge of the abyss and reveal the secret history of his family, although at a terrifying price.

'A heady brew of detective thriller, supernatural horror tale, magical realist fable and a heartbreaking love story' DAILY MAIL'Readers familiar with The Shadow of the Wind will find themselves back in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books where, from a labyrinthine library, volumes seem to select their readers . . . rattling good gothic fun' SPECTATORIn an abandoned mansion in the heart of Barcelona, a young man, David Martín, makes his living by writing sensationalist novels under a pseudonym. The survivor of a troubled childhood, he spends his nights spinning baroque tales about the city's underworld. But perhaps his dark imaginings are not as strange as they seem, for in a locked room deep within the house lie photographs and letters hinting at an unsolved mystery.Like a slow poison, the history of the place and an impossible love bring David close to despair. But then he receives a letter from a reclusive French editor who makes him the offer of a lifetime . . .'Will grip you from start to finish' DAILY EXPRESS

1943. As war sweeps across Europe, Max Carver's father moves his family away from the city, to an old wooden house on the coast. But as soon as they arrive, strange things begin to happen: Max discovers a garden filled with eerie statues; his sisters are plagued by unsettling dreams and voices; a box of old films opens a window to the past.Most unsettling of all are rumours about the previous owners and the mysterious disappearance of their son. As Max delves into the past, he encounters the terrifying story of the Prince of Mist, a sinister shadow who emerges from the night to settle old scores, then disappears with the first mists of dawn . . .Originally published in Spain as a young adult novel, THE PRINCE OF MIST is a mesmerising tale of mystery, romance and adventure.

From the internationally bestselling author of The Shadow of the Wind comes a chilling mystery about one magical summer that turns into a nightmare . . .When fourteen-year-old Irene Sauvelle moves with her family to Cape House on the coast of Normandy, she's immediately taken by the beauty of the place--its expansive cliffs, coasts, and harbors. There, she meets a local boy named Ishmael, and the two soon fall in love. But a dark plot is about to unfold involving a reclusive toymaker who lives in a gigantic mansion filled with mechanical beings and shadows of the past.As strange lights shine through the fog surrounding a small, barren island, Irene's younger brother dreams of a dark creature hidden deep in the forest. And when a young girl is found murdered, her body at the end of a path torn through the woods by a monstrous, inhuman force, Irene and Ishmael wonder--has a demonic presence been unleashed on the inhabitants of Cape House? Together, they'll have to survive the most terrifying summer of their lives.

AN ENCHANTING HARDBACK EDITION TO MARK 20 YEARS OF THE LITERARY MYSTERY THAT BECAME AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER . . . 'One gorgeous read' STEPHEN KING'A book lover's dream' THE TIMES'An instant classic' DAILY TELEGRAPH'A hymn of praise to all the joys of reading' INDEPENDENTAt the first light of dawn in postwar Barcelona, a bookseller leads his son through the misty streets to a library hidden in the heart of the old city. Here, in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, are shelves and shelves of stories that have been forgotten by the world, waiting for someone who will care about them again. Ten-year-old Daniel is allowed to choose just one to protect, and he selects The Shadow of the Wind by Julián Carax.But when Daniel sets out to find the author's other books, he makes a shocking discovery: someone is determinedly burning every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax's books in existence. Before he knows it, Daniel's seemingly innocent quest has plunged him into one of Barcelona's darkest secrets, and he is embroiled in an epic story of murder, magic and doomed love.Since The Shadow of the Wind's first publication, more than 20 million readers have opened a heavy wooden door, stepped into the haunting world of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books and fallen in love. This modern classic brings to life Barcelona's gothic streets and hidden corners, and reminds us of the all-encompassing power of a well-told story . . .

The echo of the novels of The Cemetery of Forgotten Books series resonates in the stories of Carlos Ruiz Zafón: gathered here for the first time - and some never before published in English - these stories are a celebration of one of the world's great storytellersA boy decides to become a writer when he discovers that his creative gifts capture the attentions of an aloof young beauty who has stolen his heart. A labyrinth maker flees Constantinople to a plague ridden Barcelona, with plans for building a library impervious to the destruction of time. A strange gentleman tempts Cervantes to write a book like no other, each page of which could prolong the life of the woman he loves. And a brilliant Catalan architect named Antoni Gaudí reluctantly agrees to cross the ocean to New York, a voyage that will determine the fate of an unfinished masterpiece.A celebration of a master storyteller, beloved by fans around the world: 'The real deal: one gorgeous read'Stephen King'This book will change your life. An instant classic'Daily Telegraph'A book lover's dream'The Times'A hymn of praise to all the joys of reading'Independent'Gripping and instantly atmospheric'Mail on Sunday'Irresistibly readable'Guardian'Diabolically good'Elle

'This is is explicitly, and joyously, a book about books, about what can be learned from them and what is lost when they are lost' GUARDIAN'Full of stylish writing, Gothic atmosphere and love letters to 19th-century novels' WASHINGTON POSTBarcelona, 1957. It is Christmas, and Daniel Sempere and his wife, Bea, have much to celebrate. They have a beautiful new baby son, and their close friend Fermín Romero de Torres is about to be wed. But their joy is eclipsed when a a mysterious figure with a porcelain hand enters the Sempere bookshop, threatening to divulge a terrible secret that has been buried for two decades.His appearance plunges Fermín and Daniel into a dangerous adventure that will take them back to the 1940s - the early days of Franco's dictatorship and the very heart of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.The Prisoner of Heaven is a rich, labyrinthine tale of love, literature, passion, and revenge set in a dark, gothic Barcelona, in which the heroes of The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game must contend with a nemesis that threatens to destroy them.

We all have a secret buried under lock and key in the attic of our soul. This is mine . . .In May 1980, 15-year-old Óscar Drai suddenly vanishes from his boarding school in the old quarter of Barcelona. For seven days and nights no one knows his whereabouts . . .His story begins in the heart of old Barcelona, when he meets Marina and her father German Blau, a portrait painter. Marina takes Óscar to a cemetery and at 10 am, a coach pulled by horses appears. From it descends a woman dressed in black, her face shrouded, wearing gloves, holding a single rose. She walks over to a gravestone that bears no name, only the mysterious emblem of a black butterfly with open wings. When Óscar and Marina decide to follow her they begin a journey that will take them to the heights of a forgotten, post-war Barcelona, a world of aristocrats and actresses, inventors and tycoons; and a dark secret that lies waiting in the mysterious labyrinth beneath the city streets.From the bestselling author of THE SHADOW OF THE WIND comes a haunting gothic mystery - now an international BookTok sensation.