About the Author

Carlos Ruiz Zafon was born in Barcelona and grew up under the shadow of Gaudi's Sagrada Familia cathedral. For a few years he lived in Los Angeles, working as a screenwriter, and has published four novels for young-adults before escaping everything to write The Shadow of the Wind, a novel that has become an international literary phenomenon in over 20 countries. His work has been translated into 17 languages. Now back in Barcelona, he is working on a new novel. Born in Burma but educated in England, James Wilby studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art after Durham University. On graduating he appeared in Another Country in the West End, then films such as Maurice, A Handful of Dust, A Tale of Two Cities, Howards End and most recently, Gosford Park. His most recent television appearance was in ITV's Island At War. Audiobook readings include, Maurice, Around the World in 80 Days and In Patagonia.

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About the Reader

James Wilby was born in Rangoon, Burma to a corporate executive father. He was educated at Sedbergh School in Cumbria, and from there went on to study for a degree at Grey College, University of Durham, and then at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art

He is married to Shana Louise and has four children: Barnaby John Loxley, Florence Hannah Mary, Nathaniel Jerome and Jesse Jack.

A well-known actor on the stage and screen in the United Kingdom, Wilby's first appearance on screen was in the Oxford Film Company 1982 production Privileged alongside Hugh Grant . Wilby is best known to an international audience for roles in Maurice (1987), for which he received Venice Film Festival's Best Actor award with co-star Hugh Grant. Then he starred in A Handful of Dust (1988), Howards End (1992) and Gosford Park (2001) and Alain Robbe-Grillet's C'est Gradiva qui vous appelle (2006) co-starring Arielle Dombasle which premiered at the Venice Film Festival.

On stage, he starred in the 1995 revival of John Osborne's A Patriot for Me by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Barbican Theatre.

Hidden in the heart of the old city of Barcelona is the 'cemetery of lost books', a labyrinthine library of obscure and forgotten titles long 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 'La Sombra Del Viento' 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 works 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.