The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The story is set in the misty, melancholic Barcelona of 1945, a city still very much recovering from the scars of the Spanish Civil War.

Young Daniel Sempere is taken by his father, an antiquarian bookseller, to a secret place in the heart of the old city: the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. This is a colossal, labyrinthine library where books forgotten by the world are kept. According to tradition, Daniel is allowed to choose one book that he must protect. He chooses the book The Shadow of the Wind by a completely unknown author named Julián Carax.

Daniel reads the book in one sitting and becomes completely obsessed with the story and the author. He decides to investigate the life of this Julián Carax, but soon stumbles upon a dark mystery