The third in a series of novels that began with The Angel's Game and The Shadow of the Wind.
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 have married. They 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.
Carlos Ruiz Zafon worked as a screenwriter in Los Angeles for ten years before the publication of his fifth book, The Shadow of the Wind, in 2001. It has been translated into over 40 languages and was a finalist for the Premio Fernando Lara. Ruiz Zafon is now a full-time novelist and regular contributor to the newspapers El Pais, La Vanguardia and El Mundo. He lives in Barcelona.
textpublishing.com.au
'The seductions of narrative, for Zafon, are not unlike the allures of erotic love. He actually succeeds in making bookishness sexy.' Weekend Australian
'Carlos is a natural-born storyteller.' Good Reading
'Zafon combines sincere engagement with genre tradition, with clever touches of the literary postmodern...This is, joyously, a book about books, about what can be learnt from them and what is lost when they are lost.' Sydney Morning Herald
'The Prisoner of Heaven is the third part of the story and, like the first, is narrated by Daniel Sempere. But it too contains stories within stories, and the real narrative here belongs to the irrepressible Fermin Romero de Torress...Zafon's characters and dialogue are as lively and full-blooded as ever.' Observer
'This is explicitly, and joyously, a book about books, about what can be learned from them (say, how to follow someone in the street), and what is lost when they are lost.' Guardian
'Full of stylish writing, Gothic atmosphere and love letters to 19th-century novels.' Washington Post
'A heady atmosphere permeates every page of Carlos Ruiz Zafon's masterly tale...The city comes alive: the ancient stone buildings, the cobblestone streets, the pedestrians as they hurry along in their dark trench coats...A compelling tale of mystery with as many twists as Barcelona's medieval streets, and infused with a love of delightful language and drama.' Dominion Post Weekend, Waikato Times and Weekend Press (NZ)
