The Shadow of the Wind

Father Fernando says he first became friends with Carax because they were both from poor families. Fernando’s father worked in the kitchens, and Carax obtained his spot through Mr. Aldaya, who was a customer of Fortuny’s shop. This was in the days when family dynasties were incredibly powerful, unlike today, when nebulous political parties control the city.

Carax’s other early friend was Miquel Moliner, a wealthy, gifted, and extravagant boy. After graduating, Father Fernando drifted away from Miquel, who missed the departed Carax dearly. He is unaware that Miquel seems to be married to Nuria Monfort.

As Father Fernando relates the story of Carax meeting the Aldayas, another nested narrative begins, with Father Fernando narrating. In 1914, Don Ricardo Aldaya was one of the most powerful men in Spain, a titan of industry. One day he ordered several hats from Fortuny’s shop, promising to recommend the shop to his powerful friends if the commission was executed satisfactorily. Mr. Aldaya then takes a liking to Carax, because he isn’t afraid of him and talks back frequently.

Mr. Aldaya tells the disbelieving Fortuny that the boy is a genius and that he will secure him a place at San Gabriel’s and pay his tuition. He whisks Carax away to show him his fancy car and library full of rare editions. Although he should be pleased with the social advancement, Fortuny senses that this turn of events will drag his son away from him. He takes out his rage by yelling at Sophie.

Carax is astonished by his sudden change of fortunes, by the palatial Aldaya compound, and by Mr. Aldaya’s plans to buy him a new wardrobe and turn him into a banker. Mr. Aldaya also introduces Carax to his own son, Jorge. Mr. Aldaya speaks slightingly toward Jorge, which Carax can tell upsets Jorge. Jorge takes to Carax, though, because he’s not pretentious.

As Jorge is showing him around the house, Carax glimpses the thirteen-year-old Penélope, the most beautiful “vision” he’s ever seen, although Jorge dismisses her as his “nutty” little sister. Carax can’t think about anything else for the rest of the visit, and he concludes that his meeting with the Aldayas was fated. He believes he has dreamed of the same girl on the same staircase many times.

At his new school, Carax is an outcast among the wealthy boys, who disdain him, with the exception of Miquel, who stands up for him. Carax befriends him as well as Javier, another lower-class outcast with a strange habit of making complicated woodcarvings. Javier’s father, Ramón, is a weak man married to an odious woman with “delusions of grandeur and the looks of a scullion” who calls herself Yvonne. Yvonne constantly plots for her son to ascend into the upper classes, and regularly embarrasses him in front of the other boys. Carax tries to include Javier in their games, but Miquel warns that Javier is obsessed with Carax and potentially dangerous.

In fact, Javier had also glimpsed Penélope when she visited the school one day with Mr. Aldaya and her governess, Jacinta. He was immediately enthralled by her, and stays out late making a carving of her face. When he finally gets home, his mother calls him a “little shit”—a moment that he remembers until the day he eventually shoots his mother, joins the secret police, and becomes Inspector Javier Fumero.

The nested narrative ends, and Daniel and Fermín are horrified that Fumero is so entwined in the story, although they deny knowing him to Father Fernando. Father Fernando says that he has read all of Carax’s novels, but that one night someone entered his house and burned them.

Father Fernando believes the culprit is Fumero, since Fumero also tried to kill Carax during their last year of school after spying on him and observing him kiss Penélope in secret. Only a lucky shove from Miquel saved Carax. Daniel tells Father Fernando what they know about the identity of the book-burner Laín Coubert.

All three men realize they need more information about the mysterious Penélope. Father Fernando believes her governess, Jacinta, might be able to provide it. Jacinta currently lives at the Santa Lucía hospice. Father Fernando says no one saw Penélope after 1919.