Un architecte qui fuit Constantinople avec les plans d'une bibliothèque inexpugnable, un étrange cavalier qui arrive à convaincre un tout jeune écrivain (accessoirement nommé Miguel de Cervantes) d'écrire un roman inégalable... on retrouve dans ce recueil une atmosphère et des thématiques familières aux lecteurs de Zafón : des écrivains maudits, des bâtisseurs visionnaires, des identités usurpées, une Barcelone gothique et certains des personnages phares de la tétralogie du "Cimetière des livres oubliés", tels Semperé, Andreas Corelli ou David Martin.
Il se dégage de l'ensemble une unité parfaite et un charme profond et envoûtant, dans un halo de mystère (et de vapeur).
Dans la Barcelone des années 1920, un jeune écrivain éperdument amoureux accepte un mystérieux contrat avec un éditeur parisien, sans se douter que cela va le conduire à mettre en danger la vie des personnes qui lui sont chères. Paru cinq ans après L'Ombre du vent, ce deuxième volume de la saga ne constitue pas la suite du premier volume, mais ce qui le précède, vingt ans plus tôt.
Fermín se voit, un jour de décembre 1957, offrir un exemplaire du Comte de Monte Cristo par un mystérieux inconnu. Ce cadeau n'en est pas un, il est porteur d'une terrible menace. La vie de Fermín sombre alors dans les abîmes d'un passé qu'il aurait préféré oublier : l'antichambre de l'enfer que fut la prison de Montjuïc dans laquelle il faillit trouver la mort en 1939, les mensonges qu'il fallut inventer, les ombres auxquelles il crut échapper. Mais dix-huit ans plus tard, les fantômes oubliés crient vengeance...
Parution en Babel du volume 3 de la saga Le Cimetière des Livres oubliés, qui a fait la notoriété de Carlos Ruiz Zafón.
1943, sur la côte atlantique de l'Angleterre, la famille Carver vient trouver refuge loin de la guerre dans un charmant village de pêcheurs où le temps s'est arrêté. Les deux aînés, Alicia et Max se lient très vite d'amitié avec Roland, un adolescent du coin, qui les entraîne à la découverte de l'épave d'un étrange vieux cargo. Derrière la demeure familiale, un mystérieux jardin statuaire semble quant à lui reprendre vie. Une terrible histoire hante les lieux, et un pacte passé jadis avec le Prince de la brume - être aux mille visages, pire que le Diable - est en train de refaire surface.
Le premier roman - qui ouvre la Trilogie de la brume - de l'auteur de L'Ombre du vent et de son Cimetière des Livres oubliés.
1937, Normandie. Au coeur du bois de Cravenmoore niche une résidence majestueuse habitée par un concepteur de génie, fou des automates. À la nuit tombée, une ombre semble prendre vie et s'emparer des corps inanimés. Au large, une île voit ses lumières se rallumer dès que vient la fin de l'été. Serait-elle le refuge d'une âme esseulée ?
Carlos Ruiz Zafón conclut, avec ce troisième volet, le plus sombre, sa trilogie des temps de guerre et de leurs brumes qui recouvrent tout, marquent les corps, et fabriquent des fantômes.
Après la côte anglaise disparaissant sous la brume, Carlos Ruiz Zafón nous entraîne cette fois dans la moiteur des nuits de Calcutta, sur les pas de deux adolescents que la vie menace et prêts à tout pour découvrir le grand secret resté enfermé dans les ruines d'une gare majestueuse, partie en cendres avant même d'avoir existé.
Barcelone, 1980. Le jeune Óscar a l'habitude de s'échapper du collège où il est pensionnaire lorsqu'un jour, il rencontre Marina, une jeune fille qui va briser la solitude de ses escapades quotidiennes. Intrigués par une femme se recueillant régulièrement devant une tombe anonyme flanquée d'un papillon noir d'un cimetière oublié, les deux amis décident de la suivre et de mener l'enquête. D'un effrayant théâtre abandonné aux vestiges de la cité souterraine de Barcelone, Óscar et Marina vont faire ressurgir une vieille tragédie et réveiller les fantômes du passé.
"Cette nuit j'ai rêvé que je retournais au Cimetière des Livres Oubliés. J'avais de nouveau dix ans et je me réveillais dans mon ancienne chambre pour sentir que le souvenir du visage de ma mère m'avait abandonné. Et je savais, comme on sait les choses dans les rêves, que c'était ma faute, seulement la mienne, parce que je ne méritais pas de m'en souvenir et je n'avais pas été capable de la venger". Le dernier volume tant attendu de la saga aux 50 millions de lecteurs, commencée avec L'Ombre du vent. Magistral final du Cimetière des livres oubliés
THE MODERN CLASSIC: OVER 20 MILLION COPIES SOLD
A Sunday Times bestseller and a Richard & Judy book club pick
'The real deal: one gorgeous read' Stephen King
'This book will change your life. An instant classic' Daily Telegraph
'A book lover's dream' The Times
Hidden in the heart of the old city of Barcelona is the 'Cemetery of Lost Books', a labyrinthine library of obscure and forgotten titles that have long gone 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 'The Shadow of the Wind' 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 work 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...
'Marvellous' Sunday Times
'A hymn of praise to all the joys of reading' Independent
'Gripping and instantly atmospheric' Mail on Sunday
'Irresistibly readable' Guardian
'Diabolically good' Elle
Des secrets de sinistre mémoire viennent hanter Daniel Sempere et son ami Fermin, les héros de L'Ombre du vent.Barcelone, Noël 1957. À la librairie Sempere, un inquiétant personnage achète un exemplaire du Comte de Monte Cristo. Puis il l'offre à Fermín, accompagné d'une menaçante dédicace. La vie de Fermín vole alors en éclats. Qui est cet inconnu ? De quels abîmes du passé surgit-il ? Interrogé par Daniel, Fermín révèle ce qu'il a toujours caché. La terrible prison de Montjuïc en 1939. Une poignée d'hommes condamnés à mourir lentement dans cette antichambre de l'enfer. Parmi eux Fermín et David Martín, l'auteur de La Ville des maudits. Une évasion prodigieuse et un objet volé... Dix-huit ans plus tard, quelqu'un crie vengeance. Des mensonges enfouis refont surface, des ombres oubliées se mettent en mouvement, la peur et la haine rôdent.Foisonnant de suspense et d'émotion, Le Prisonnier du Ciel nous rapproche pas à pas de l'énigme cachée au coeur du Cimetière des livres oubliés.
The echo of the novels of The Cemetery of Forgotten Books series resonates in the stories of Carlos Ruiz Zafón: gathered here for the first time - and some never before published in English - these stories are a celebration of one of the world's great storytellers
A boy decides to become a writer when he discovers that his creative gifts capture the attentions of an aloof young beauty who has stolen his heart.
A labyrinth maker flees Constantinople to a plague ridden Barcelona, with plans for building a library impervious to the destruction of time.
A strange gentleman tempts Cervantes to write a book like no other, each page of which could prolong the life of the woman he loves.
And a brilliant Catalan architect named Antoni Gaudí reluctantly agrees to cross the ocean to New York, a voyage that will determine the fate of an unfinished masterpiece.
A celebration of a master storyteller, beloved by fans around the world:
'The real deal: one gorgeous read'
Stephen King
'This book will change your life. An instant classic'
Daily Telegraph
'A book lover's dream'
The Times
'A hymn of praise to all the joys of reading'
Independent
'Gripping and instantly atmospheric'
Mail on Sunday
'Irresistibly readable'
Guardian
'Diabolically good'
Elle
The stunning new novel from the internationally bestselling author of THE SHADOW OF THE WIND.
In an abandoned mansion at the heart of Barcelona, a young man - David Martin - makes his living by writing sensationalist novels under a pseudonym. The survivor of a troubled childhood, he has taken refuge in the world of books, and spends his nights spinning baroque tales about the city's underworld. But perhaps his dark imaginings are not as strange as they seem, for in a locked room deep within the house letters hinting at the mysterious death of the previous owner. Like a slow poison, the history of the place seeps into his bones as he struggles with an impossible love.
Then David receives the offer of a lifetime: he is to write a book with the power to change hearts and minds. In return, he will receive a fortune, perhaps more. But as David begins the work, he realises that there is a connection between this haunting book and the shadows that surround his home...
THE PRISONER OF HEAVEN returns to the world of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books and the Sempere & Sons bookshop.
It begins just before Christmas in Barcelona in 1957, one year after Daniel and Bea from THE SHADOW OF THE WIND have married. They now have a son, Julian, and are living with Daniel's father at Sempere & Sons. Fermin still works with them and is busy preparing for his wedding to Bernarda in the New Year. However something appears to be bothering him.
Daniel is alone in the shop one morning when a mysterious figure with a pronounced limp enters. He spots one of their most precious volumes that is kept locked in a glass cabinet, a beautiful and unique illustrated edition of THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO. Despite the fact that the stranger seems to care little for books, he wants to buy this expensive edition. Then, to Daniel's surprise, the man inscribes the book with the words 'To Fermin Romero de Torres, who came back from the dead and who holds the key to the future'. This visit leads back to a story of imprisonment, betrayal and the return of a deadly rival ...
The long-awaited new novel from the author of the global bestseller and modern classic, The Shadow of the Wind.
As a child, Daniel Sempere discovered among the passageways of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books an extraordinary novel that would change the course of his life. Now a young man in the Barcelona of the late 1950s, Daniel runs the Sempere & Sons bookshop and enjoys a seemingly fulfilling life with his loving wife and son. Yet the mystery surrounding the death of his mother continues to plague his soul despite the moving efforts of his wife Bea and his faithful friend Fermín to save him.
Just when Daniel believes he is close to solving this enigma, a conspiracy more sinister than he could have imagined spreads its tentacles from the hellish regime. That is when Alicia Gris appears, a soul born out of the nightmare of the war. She is the one who will lead Daniel to the edge of the abyss and reveal the secret history of his family, although at a terrifying price.
The Labyrinth of the Spirits is an electrifying tale of passion, intrigue and adventure. Within its haunting pages Carlos Ruiz Zafón masterfully weaves together plots and subplots in an intricate and intensely imagined homage to books, the art of storytelling and that magical bridge between literature and our lives.
'For the first time in 20 years or so as a book reviewer, I am tempted to dust off the old superlatives and event to employ some particularly vulgar clichés from the repertoire of publishers' blurbs. My colleagues may be shocked, but I don't care, I can't help myself, here goes. The Shadow of the Wind is a triumph of the storyteller's art. I couldn't put it down. Enchanting, hilarious and heartbreaking, this book will change your life. Carlos Ruiz Zafón has done that exceedingly rare thing - he has produced, in his first novel, a popular masterpiece, an instant classic' Daily Telegraph
A mysterious toymaker who lives as a recluse in an old mansion, surrounded by the mechanical beings he has created... an enigma surrounding strange lights that shine through the mists that envelop the small island on which the old lighthouse stands... a shadowy creature that hides deep in the woods... these are the elements of a mystery that bind 14-year-old Irene to Ismael during one magical summer spent in the Blue Bay. Irene's mother has taken a job as a housekeeper for the toymaker, Lazarus, but his house contains more secrets than Irene and Ishmael have bargained for.
In 1943 Max Carver's father - a watchmaker and inventor - decides to move his family to a small town on the Atlantic coast. But as soon as they arrive, strange things begin to happen. Max discovers an overgrown garden surrounded by a metal fence topped with a six-pointed star. When he goes to investigate, Max finds statues like a circus troupe fill the garden. In the centre is a clown set in another six-pointed star. Max has the curious sensation that the statue is beckoning to him.
The family grows increasingly uneasy when they discover a box of old films, his sister Alicia has unsettling dreams, while little Irina hears voices whispering to her from an old wardrobe. But Max spends most of his time with his new friend Roland, who takes him diving to the wreck of a boat that sank close to the coast in a terrible storm. Everyone on board perished except for one man - an engineer who built the lighthouse at the end of the beach. During the dive, Max sees something that leaves him cold - on the mast floats a tattered flag and on it is the symbol of the circle and six-pointed star. As they learn more about the wreck, the chilling story of a legendary figure called the Prince of Mist begins to emerge...
A mesmerising story of a secret society and a labyrinthine railway station with a dark past.
The book begins with a chase through the streets of Calcutta in May 1916. Lieutenant Peake pauses for breath outside the ruins of the Jheeter's Gate station knowing that he only has a few hours to live. Inside his overcoat he is sheltering two newborn babies - twins, a boy and a girl. Peake entrusts them to Aryami Bose. Sixteen years later we meet the boy, Ben, and his friends. They have formed a secret club, The Chowbar Society, which meets each week at midnight in the old ruin they have christened The Midnight Palace. Then Aryami Bose turns up with Sheere, Ben's sister, and tells them the story of the parents they never knew. Their father was an engineer and writer who died in tragic circumstances at the inauguration of Jheeter's Gate station. But as the novel unfolds, there is more to their history than meets the eye and they are lured by a shadowy figure from the past into a final showdown in the ruins.
