The protagonist of the novel, Daniel Sempere is the son of a bookshop owner. After visiting the Cemetery of Forgotten Books and picking out The Shadow of the Wind by Julián Carax, Daniel begins a search for the rest of Carax’s novels and is immediately drawn into the mysterious life of the author. Daniel quickly betrays the promise he made to his father, and he soon learns that others covet his precious copy of The Shadow of the Wind. First pursued and pressured by fellow bibliophile and wealthy collector, Don Barceló to sell his book, Daniel discovers that there is at least one more sinister, shadowy figure interested in finding and burning the book—a man known as Laín Coubert, which is the name of the devil figure in The Shadow of the Wind. Determined to foil Coubert’s promise to find and burn The Shadow of the Wind, Daniel hides the book within the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.

Daniel grows up in this novel, quickly learning about life and love through the loss of his mother, the love of his father, and his friendship with Fermín. Though he is only eighteen years old when he falls in love with Bea, he is in many ways wiser than his years.