The Shadow of the Wind
by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Contents
An Empty Plate — Chapter 10
Overview
Isaac recounts how Carax’s publisher Cabestany lost his business and how a man named Coubert tried to buy up Carax’s remaining novels before a warehouse fire destroyed almost all copies. Isaac then reveals that Cabestany’s secretary Nuria—who saved one copy of each title and hid them in the Cemetery—is Isaac’s daughter, tying Carax’s disappearance to a personal family wound. Daniel re-hides his own copy using a marked trail, then returns home to his worried father, rejects Clara, and receives an engraved pen that underscores his father’s quiet devotion.
Summary
Isaac warms Daniel and explains what he knows about Julin Carax. He recalls publisher Toni Cabestany buying Carax’s Spanish rights in the late 1920s, publishing eight novels despite miserable sales, and then dying before the firm collapsed under Cabestany’s incompetent son.
Isaac says Cabestany’s son received a lucrative offer from a man called Aubert/Coubert to buy all remaining Carax stock at triple value. When the son tried to squeeze more money, the offer was withdrawn; soon after, Cabestany’s warehouse burned down, destroying almost all copies. Isaac recognizes the name Lan Coubert as the devil’s alias in The Shadow of the Wind, which deepens Daniel’s fear about the hoarse, limping stranger.
Isaac reveals that Cabestany’s secretary Nuria is his daughter. Nuria had corresponded with Carax, visited Paris, and likely cared deeply for him. After the warehouse fire, Nuria came to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, convinced Coubert was pursuing the novels to destroy them, and hid one copy of each Carax title in the labyrinth, intending to retrieve them once she found Carax. She never heard from Carax again, and Isaac and Nuria grew distant over the years; Isaac gives Daniel her address but asks him to keep Isaac’s confidences and to tell him whether Nuria is happy.
Before dawn, Daniel returns into the Cemetery to secure his own Carax novel again. Following Isaac’s advice, Daniel notches the route by carving discreet marks and letters into corners so he can find the hiding place later. Daniel conceals The Shadow of the Wind behind dense, uninviting books, leaves with a sense of grief for all the forgotten stories, and finds his way out using his marks.
At dawn Daniel slips back into the apartment on Calle Santa Ana and finds his father waiting, exhausted and smoking. Daniel refuses to speak to Clara again despite her calls, lies about his bruised face, and apologizes for frightening his father. Daniel’s father insists he open his birthday present: an engraved Montblanc fountain pen, and father and son share a rare, silent moment of closeness.
Who Appears
- Daniel SempereQuestions Isaac about Carax, re-hides the novel with marked trail, returns home and cuts off Clara.
- IsaacCemetery keeper; recounts Carax’s publishing history, reveals Nuria is his daughter, gives Daniel her address.
- NuriaCabestany’s secretary and Isaac’s daughter; saved one copy of each Carax title and hid them in the Cemetery.
- Daniel's father (Mr. Sempere)Waits up all night, relays Clara’s calls, gives Daniel an engraved Montblanc pen.
- Julin CaraxElusive author; linked to Nuria and to the campaign to destroy his novels.
- Toni CabestanyPublisher who acquired and printed Carax’s novels despite poor sales; later died before the firm collapsed.
- Cabestany's sonIncompetent heir who tried to profit from the backlist and mishandled Coubert’s offer before the warehouse fire.
- Laedn CoubertName used by the man buying Carax stock; also the devil’s alias in Carax’s novel.
- Clara Barcelf3Calls anxiously after Daniel leaves; Daniel resolves not to see or speak to her again.
- MiquelNuria’s husband, a journalist; mentioned as someone she kept hidden from Isaac.
- Teresita BoadasIsaac’s first love, recalled in a story about lasting memory and heartbreak.