The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Set in Barcelona in 1945, the story follows Daniel Sempere, a book dealer's son who is taken to the secret Cemetery of Forgotten Books. There, he rescues an obscure novel called The Shadow of the Wind by an elusive author named Julián Carax.

As Daniel grows up, his innocent literary curiosity turns dangerous when he discovers that a mysterious, disfigured figure resembling the devil from the novel's own pages is systematically tracking down and burning every last copy of Carax’s work. Daniel's quest to uncover the truth about the missing author pulls him into a dark, gothic labyrinth of post war secrets, murder, madness, and doomed love, where his own life begins to mirror the tragic fate of the writer.