The Shadow of the Wind and the remarkable success of Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Although modelled on the storytelling of Dickens and Tolstoy, his enormously popular novels were sharply attuned to our times

Although all of Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s most successful books were published in the 21st century – The Shadow of the Wind, the first of the quartet on which his reputation rests, appeared in Spanish in 2001, and in English three years later – he was, at heart, a 19th-century novelist. His aim, in which he succeeded, was to emulate the narratively propulsive but socially reflective fiction of Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins and Leo Tolstoy.

Another pivotal influence was even more distant: back to the start of the 17th century and the book often regarded as the birth of the modern novel: Don Quixote, written by a compatriot, Miguel de Cervantes. It was often said in Spain that Ruiz Zafón was Cervantes’ only equal in literary impact, and the later writer’s fiction genuflected to that of his predecessor, especially in digressive style, tales within tales, and multiple subplots.

Related: Carlos Ruiz Zafón, author of The Shadow of the Wind, dies aged 55

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