The Fountains of Silence

As children, Anna and her brother Rafael see their father murdered and mother imprisoned. They live with their older sister Julia, a seamstress who sews beads and gemstones onto the matador suits. Ana works as a maid at the Castellana Hilton, an American hotel and Rafael works at a butcher shop. Their cousin Purification, known as Puri, works at the orphanage run by the nuns. Daniel Matheson has traveled from Texas to Madrid with his parents to see his mother’s home country. He is a photographer and is working on his portfolio and a photo contest.

The story is set in 1957 Madrid under Francisco Franco. The local people are poor and hungry. They can see the lives of the Americans but look at it as a fairy tale. The story is interesting and is written in third person point of view. With each chapter the reader learns a little bit more of a different character. This teaser (48 pages) was just enough to pull me in to find out what happens in the relationships between Anna and Rafael, Anna and Daniel, and Daniel with his parents.