Marina

Marina is a young adult fiction novel by Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafón. It was published in 1999 by the publishing house Edebé and reprinted in February 2017 with a total of approximately thirteen editions. Perhaps, Marina is the most indefinable and impossible novel to be categorised among the books by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. And, according to the writer's words, probably it is the most personal of his works. Marina is a supernatural mystery history that takes place in Barcelona. The protagonists find many trails, explore abandoned mansions and gardens, get anonymous papers, and conduct interviews. Most importantly, they hear confessions from minor characters, one of Zafon's favourite tools to "unclog" the plot. The novel looks into self-investigation, just Bildungsroman, in the bloom of love and its difficult managing, and to melancholy caused by faithfulness. The Guardian called Zafón's narrative style "simply beautiful". Plot summary The novel begins with Oscar's reasoning about the past. And the main events start at the end of September 1979 in Barcelona. The novel narrates two parallel stories. The principal one is the history of Marina and Oscar. It is touching and emotional. The meeting of a mysterious girl called Marina completely changes the sentimental part of Oscar's life. One day she takes him to the cemetery of Sarriá where she tells him about the peculiar "lady in black" that comes here on the last Sunday of every month at ten o’clock in the morning. That Sunday was no exception. Eventually, they decide to follow the woman and find out more about her. This shadowing involves them into an entangled and dangerous adventure.