Top 10 ever. Our hero Daniel Sempere in 1937 Barcelona, embarks on an innocent inquiry that leads him through great discovery, love, betrayal, friendship, tragedy and redemption. All told with a style as easy on your soul as perhaps, Sarah Gruen, only a tad more cerebral.

Reading this virtually guarantees I'll pick up The Angels Game. I first discovered the novel when I found The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. Stupidly, I bought Kavalier and left Shadow of the Wind for later. A pleasing discovery on the book was an endorsement by Stephen King who very seldom lends his voice to another novels cover. King had this to say of Shadow of the Wind, "One gorgeous read". King was dead on.

One word, if you read this, pay attention. There are two stories in one and they intertwine, as do some of the characters in each. Pay attention.

Anyway.....I must agree with you totally about The Shadow of the Wind.
It was wonderful. It gets a bit tricky to follow in parts, but well worth staying with it.
To all fellow moochers, if you can get hold of a copy, do so & read it with relish. It isn't even in my usual genre of reading, but I can't say what genre it belongs in. It really is a book for all tastes.
It was fantastic!!

Ooohhh......I hadn't heard of Prince of Mist.
(Trots off to Amazon & Google books for a look at that one)