At the Castellana Hilton in 1957 Madrid, eighteen-year-old Daniel Matheson connects with Ana Moreno through photography and fate as Daniel discovers the incredibly dark side of the city under Generalissimo Franco's rule. From 1939-1980s, thousands of babies were stolen on helaf of the government and sold.

DNF ( )

Oh my goodness. I am absolutely in love with this book. A coworker of mine went to a signing and got a copy for me. And wow, I couldn't put the book down. I LOVED reading a historical fiction book from a time period I know nothing about--Franco's time of power in Spain after WWII. I knew nothing about what the country was like during this time.

I learned a lot. Ruta Sepetys truly did her research with this novel(and my copy of the book includes some of that research so we can see her process.) The novel bounces from the perspectives of Daniel a young man from Texas visiting the country of his mother....and Ana, a Spanish girl working in a hotel. Everyone has secrets. And you are blown away by them.

What I appreciate is that with this book, Ruta also brings to light a topic of Spanish history--the mystery of the stolen babies. I won't say more lest I spoil the book. ( )

I learned so much about Spanish history from this book. However, it was slow-moving, and for some reason I didn't connect to the writing or the characters as much as I like to in a story. ( )

Once again, Ruta Sepetys uses her talent to bring light to a subject that I knew nothing about. This takes place in Madrid, Spain under the dictatorship of Franco. While wealthy Americans come to Madrid for the sunshine and wine, the Spanish people are still suffering the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War. Recommended! ( )