Play Book Tag discussion

It is winter in Barcelona in 1957, and Fermín is getting ready for his wedding to Bernarda, when a stranger from his past reappears and brings to the surface all kinds of terrible memories. He tells his friend Daniel Sempere–whom we know well from The Shadow of the Wind–all about said past, which touches him a lot too.

This is my second time reading this book, and I remembered having loved it the first time around, but not much else, so this felt like I was reading a whole new book, I loved it!

The author says at the beginning the books in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books trilogy can be read in any order, but while it might be true for The Angel's Game, which isn't needed to understand this one, I feel like Shadow really needs to have been already read. Because this is as much a tale of Fermín's past in 1940 as it is one of Fermín and Daniel's present friendship in 1957, and for this I think the reader needs to see the start of their story in Shadow.

This makes me want to reread Angel, which I remember having been disappointed by (twice, lol). And Shadow, which I love every time I read it.

Also, there needs to be a sequel to this.

Thanks for the tip Ellie, in reading Shadow first-and so my hunt at book sales goes on.....

Its been hard to figure out. I read Shadow twice already. But If I wanted to read chronologically, what is the order?

In the order they were written and published, it's Shadow, then Angel, then Prisoner. Prisoner takes place after Shadow, but also tells a story that happens between Angel and Shadow. So I guess chronologically, the best way to read them would be Angel, then Shadow, then Prisoner. Either way, I think it's preferable to read Shadow before Prisoner, but Angel can be read before, after or in between, it doesn't really change anything, even though some of the characters in Angel are prominent in the 1940 part of Prisoner.

Does this make any kind of sense? Lol.