The Fountains of Silence: A Novel

Ana works at the Castellana Hilton in Madrid. Her sister, Julia, constantly reminds her to be quiet; she says that that Ana “trust[s] too easily” and “reveal[s] too much” (4). Ana dreams of leaving Spain, and, like Rafa, remembers her father’s execution and her mother’s imprisonment—all because, as teachers, they wanted to run a Montessori school rather than a religious school. Franco declared the church would run the schools and decided to punish secularists, calling them “Republican sympathizers.”

When Ana receives an anonymous note, which reads “I know what you’ve done” (3), she thinks it must be a lie. She rips the note into pieces and swallows them. When another worker, Lorenza, asks if she is alright, Ana pretends to be fine.

The chapter is followed by a newspaper article from 1955, stating that the Castellana Hilton is called “‘The 49th State’” because “only in America does there seem to be more Americanos” (9). 

Daniel, a young American staying at the hotel, wanders through Madrid taking pictures. People realize he is a tourist: He wears denim, a plaid shirt, and a belt buckle shaped like the state of Texas. No one talks to him because of the camera.

Daniel needs photos he can use to enter the Magnum Photography Prize contest, which would pay for a year of journalism school. He is tired of everyone telling him what to do; his father thinks he’ll grow out of his obsession with photography. Despite his family’s wealth from the oil business, they are still considered outsiders in Texas society because of his mother’s Spanish heritage. In fact, his girlfriend, Laura Beth, broke up with him because he was “too ethnic.”

Daniel photographs a nun carrying a bundle. The breeze catches the blanket, blowing it open to reveal a dead infant, it’s face “gray like smoke” (14). Daniel tries to get more pictures but runs out of film. By the time he reloads the camera, the nun disappears, and two men appear in her place, carrying rifles and wearing capes and wing-shaped hats. He decides to take their picture, despite his father’s warning to stay away from them, and they immediately confiscate his film and take him into custody.

The chapter is followed by an oral history interview excerpt from Alexander F. Watson, the U.S. consular officer in Madrid from 1964-1966. It echoes the warning Daniel received from his father.

Puri, who is Rafa and Ana’s cousin, works at the Inclusa, an orphanage. Puri does not remember the aftermath of the war. Indeed, Puri is a devout Catholic and grateful to serve Franco, their “defender, El Caudillo,” (19).

Dressed in “a black apron bearing the red arrows of the Falange, the Spanish fascist movement” (18), Puri soothes one of the infants, who is about to have her picture taken for photos that will be shown to prospective adoptive parents. As she bounces the infant and sings the national anthem to calm the child, a nun enters the room to speak to Puri’s supervisor, Sister Hortensia. When they notice Puri, she turns her back and pretends not to see or hear them.

Ana has been assigned to care for Daniel’s family. She takes towels into his room and marvels at his possessions. Ana thinks of the privilege of the Americans, who don’t seem to realize that the “petit lobster appetizer on the hotel menu costs more than most Spaniards earn in months” (21).

Despite this sense of wonder, Ana feels neither resentful nor angry. She enjoys her job, which immerses her in an American atmosphere and gives her access to English classes. Daniel returns to his room and meets Ana. They chat, and when his parents knock, he and Ana trick them into thinking that no one is there.

Another oral history excerpt follows this chapter, quoting U.S. Vice Consul William W. Lehfeldt, who served in Spain from 1955-1957. Lehfeldt comments on the “feeling of depression” and “repression” in Spain, noting that everybody “was careful what they said, what they did, how they disported themselves” (27).

Rafa, who also works as a gravedigger, is with his friend Fuga, reading a newspaper article about a torero, or bullfighter. Their friendship is one of shared hardship; both were residents of a so-called boy’s home where the “‘brothers’ and ‘matrons’ who ran the institution took pleasure in the humiliation of children” (29). Such homes were used to re-educate the children of Republicans or those orphaned by the war.

As Rafa begins to remember the many humiliations he suffered, Fuga punches him, a reminder not to dwell on the harm he endured. Fuga wants to become a bullfighter who can use his fame to “unmask the evil homes and rescue the children” (30). Rafa quotes from a book by Seneca, a favorite of his father’s: “Gold is tried by fire and brave men by adversity” (30). Fuga claims that he will come through the fire—Franco’s dictatorship and the abuse and adversity they’ve endured—and burn it all down.

Daniel’s father is furious that Daniel had a run-in with the Guardia Civil, Franco’s law enforcement agents. An oilman, he is under a great deal of pressure regarding a business deal in Spain. Daniel’s mother is under a different kind of pressure, striving as always to straddle two different worlds: American high society and her native Spanish roots.

Daniel himself doesn’t feel like an American, and hates the plans his father has for him. Daniel is expected to join the family business.