“Prisoner of Heaven” by Carlos Ruiz Zafon – The Lazarus of Montjuic Castle

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Short Summary

Carlos Ruiz Zafon has presented Barcelona unlike any before him with The Cemetery of Forgotten Books series, and the third one, titled Prisoner of Heaven, takes a bit of a detour from the previous stories. This one focuses on Fermin Romero de Torres, previously a side character, and his miraculous return from the dead, along with all the trouble it brings him.

Carlos Ruiz Zafon Takes a Brief Detour

Though death might generally be associated with particular people, the truth is that many have the privilege of suffering multiple deaths over the course of their lifetime, through a simple concept: the death of one’s identity. The extent of those deaths, is of course, very much up for philosophical debate, but not so for Fermin Romero de Torres in Carlos Ruiz Zafon‘s Prisoner of Heaven.

Before moving on any further, it must be noted that this book is actually the third in The Cemetery of Forgotten Books series. While the story does, more or less, stand on its own, it is acted by characters we’ve previously gotten to know quite well, in a location which is becoming more and more like a second home to us. I highly recommend you read the series in order, especially when it comes to this book, for a reason I’ll explain a little later down the line.

Without further ado, the novel opens by presenting us with Daniel Sempere, living above and working in the family bookshop with his elderly father. He had a son named Julian with his wife Beatriz, and he’s about to turn a year-old. Also working for them is Fermin Romero de Torres, seeker of rare books, and about to get married.

One day, a mysterious one-armed man arrives, and leaves a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo for Fermin, with a message within stating he came back from the dead, and holds the key to the future. Rather upset by the gift, Fermin tries to shield Daniel from the truth, but ultimately gives in: twenty years ago, Fermin was a prisoner at Montjuic Castle.

Fermin then proceeds to tell Daniel the story of his imprisonment along with the mysterious stranger who left the book, as well as David Martin, author of The Angel’s Game (also the title of the second book in the series). Not only that, but he also reveals to him the tale of his harrowing escape from an insidious warden, and how it’s all coming back and threatening to destroy the life he had built for himself.

Destiny doesn’t do home visits… you have to go for it yourself.

― Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Prisoner of Heaven

An In-Between Moment in Prisoner of Heaven

From this point onward, I’m just going to assume that like myself, you made the sensible decision to read the series in order and are familiar with the previous two novels. While both The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel’s Game were fairly weighty novels telling complete stories from start to finish, I would classify Prisoner of Heaven as more of an in-between novel.

To begin with, it is a good deal shorter than the previous offerings, not all of the story’s elements see some sort of resolution, and lastly, it focuses on a character which, until now, benefited only from a secondary level of focus, serving as a comic relief more than anything else. With that being said, if ever there was secondary character worthy of his own novel, Fermin would be it.

Whereas previously he appeared as a bit of an overly energetic man with the qualities of a verbose buffoon, Zafon expands upon the character in more serious ways. On several occasions we witness him dealing with more dramatic moments which aren’t conducive to laughter, which leads to an expansion of his inner world into something more akin to a complete human being.

Personally-speaking, I always find comedy to be a difficult element to properly integrate into any story, especially in relation to comic relief characters. Explaining humour is a tall order, especially if we’re talking about what makes good comedy, but in my opinion Fermin truly has all the makings of an effective comedic character with appreciable depth to him.

Whether it’s his choice of words, his flowery prose rife with metaphors and similes, his impeccable sense of timing or his general outlook on life, all about Fermin paints the picture of a man intent on making his way through life with a smile, no matter how tough the going gets. He always has some surprising, and perhaps even ridiculous idea in his back pocket, and he’s not afraid to use it.

A good liar knows that the most efficient lie is always a truth that has had a key piece removed from it

― Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Prisoner of Heaven

The Great Escape

Technically-speaking, the novel is told from the point of view of Daniel as he gets Fermin to recount to him what transpired twenty years ago in Montjuic Castle. Practically-speaking, most of the novel is told in third-person perspective, detailing Fermin’s stay as a prisoner, his relationships with the few other prisoners, as well as the cat-and-mouse game he played with Valls, his sadistic warden with political ambitions.

Now, it’s definitely not a coincidence that The Count of Monte Cristo is featured so obviously and prominently in the first act of the book, and if you’re familiar with it, I’m certain you can guess where this is going. Without spoiling too much, Fermin cleverly uses it as a source of inspiration to get his life back, and while his ordeal isn’t described in as much detail as Edmond Dantes’, it still has a lot to give.

There’s also something interesting to note in regards to secondary characters: in prison, Fermin encounters David Martin, an author in the process of losing his mind and detained by Valls for his literary prowess. The more we learn about his interactions with Fermin, the more we realize how much of an unreliable narrator he was in the previous book, putting in question some of the events he narrated in it.

The actual escape in Prisoner of Heaven itself was a part of the book I enjoyed tremendously, even if it didn’t last long. It was made from a healthy mixture of drama, black humour, and even a little bit of horror thrown in for good measure. As you might imagine, there are some stark and intentional parallels with Dumas’ work, and Carlos Ruiz Zafon integrates them naturally into the story, as if it was the former who had copied the latter.

While much of the book does take place in the past, near the end of Fermin’s story the action return back to the present day, without really concluding all that much. If nothing else, Prisoner of Heaven is an elaborate set-up for the next book, an integral bridge between two stories, offering less than either of them, but something unique and enjoyable of its own.

The Final Verdict

Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon is a thrilling and humorous dive into Fermin Romero de Torres’ past, detailing the unbelievable adventure he suffered through, setting the stage for the next chapter in the series. If you’ve read and enjoyed the first two books in the series, I think reading this third one is very much a no-brainer, even if it is a little different from its predecessors.

Carlos Ruiz Zafon

(September 25, 1964 – June 19, 2020)

Carlos Ruiz Zafon is a Spanish novelist whose first work, The Prince of Mist earned him the Edebe literary prize for young adult fiction. His subsequent novels, which included The Midnight Palace and Marina have eventually earned Zafon the the honor of being the most successful contemporary Spanish author, with his books having been published in over 45 countries and translated in 40 languages.