Spanish novelist Carlos Ruiz Zafon dies at 55

Text by: Catherine Fruchon-Toussaint

World famous for his novel The Shadow of the Wind, the Spanish writer Carlos Ruiz Zafon died on Friday June 19, at the age of 55. Author of a very popular romantic work, he also wrote for youth and for cinema and lived in Los Angeles where he died.

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Zafon's name will forever be associated with Barcelona. First, because he was born there in 1964 and above all because he wrote the great popular novel of the Catalan city of recent decades. The sombra del vieto , The shadow of the wind in French, published in 2001 in Spain, indeed carries within it a remarkable epic and historical breath.

The book begins in the post-war period with a young boy led by his father to a secret place: the cemetery of forgotten books. A mysterious library where he discovers an enigmatic writer. Learning story, declaration of love for literature, homage to the architecture of Barcelona, ​​the novel translated into nearly 50 languages, crowned with numerous awards, has enjoyed worldwide success and has sold 12 million 'copies.

Carlos Ruiz Zafon gave a follow-up in several volumes to this first volume, published a series for teenagers and settled in the United States. This is where the most widely read contemporary Spanish author in the world has just died of cancer at the age of 55.

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