The Shadow of the Wind Characters

Cabestany is the publisher who printed Carax’s novels even though they sold terribly. This is because Miquel Moliner financed all the editions.

Bernarda is the Barcelos’ incredibly religious maid. She acts as a mother figure to Daniel, taking care of his clothes, and later becomes engaged to Fermín.

Pablo is Beatriz Aguilar’s fiancé, an ardently conventional and stupid Fahmmlangist who fulfills all her father’s criteria for an acceptable man. He’s a direct contract to the artistic, eccentric, and leftist Daniel.

Doña Encarna is Fermín’s landlady. Although she puts on a tough front, she has a soft spot for her eccentric tenant.

Father Fernando is a friend of Carax during his time at San Gabriel’s school. Later, he becomes a priest and works at the school.

Professor Velázquez is a fascist professor at the university where Bea studies, as well as a client of Mr. Sempere.

Doña Aurora is the gossipy and voyeuristic caretaker of the building that houses the defunct Fortuny hat shop and Carax’s childhood apartment.

Mr. Molins is the lewd administrator of the building that houses Carax’s childhood apartment. While he lacks any interest in the case, he inadvertently helps Daniel find out that Nuria controls the PO box associated with Sophie Carax’s fake lawyer.

Viçeneta is a neighbor of the Fortunys and Sophie’s only friend during her marriage.

Jausà is the eccentric millionaire who designed the mansion that later belongs to the Aldayas. His wife’s lurid murder at the hands of Marisela, his maid and lover, gave the house its reputation for being cursed, which he amplified by attempting to track Marisela’s spirit via film.

Marisela is Jausà’s maid and lover, who eventually destroys the house and kills Jausà’s wife, presumably out of jealousy over her pregnancy, before committing suicide. Many people believe Marisela still haunts the house, and her presence may or may not have manifested itself while the Aldayas lived there.

Requejo is the fictitious lawyer Nuria contrives to control the Fortuny apartment.

Mrs. Aldaya is Penélope and Jorge’s mother, an aloof high-society socialite without a shred of maternal instinct. She shows her lack of feeling for her daughter by failing to protect her from Mr. Aldaya’s rage after her affair with Carax is discovered.

Fonseca is the city morgue employee who tells Barceló of the unique circumstances surrounding Carax’s supposed death and the identification of his body.

Gelabert (a real-life inventor and screenwriter) is the cinematographer hired by Jausà to track his dead lover’s spirit through the house.

David is the illegitimate, stillborn son of Carax and Penélope Aldaya. His family keeps his brief existence a secret because his parents’ relationship was incestuous, and Carax only finds out about him years later.

Sanmartí is the lecherous owner of a publishing company where Nuria works. On the orders of Fumero, his close friend, he fires Nuria, after which Carax kills him in revenge.

Mercedes is Nuria’s colleague and friend at the Sanmartí publishing house.

Julián is Daniel and Bea’s son. He’s a foil to the son Carax was never able to have. His happy childhood, and introduction to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books at the novel’s end, show that Daniel has fully differentiated his own life from Carax’s tragedy.

Laurent is Julián Carax’s alter ego when he moves to Paris at the end of the novel and begins to write again.

Neri is Clara’s music teacher and Daniel’s rival for her affections. Daniel’s first youthful disillusionment comes when he discovers Neri in bed with Clara and the musician punches him.

Merceditas is one of the Semperes’ neighbors, whom Daniel suspects of having a crush on Mr. Sempere. Although Merceditas is conservative and religious, she’s deeply sympathetic to the gay Don Federico’s plight when he’s arrested by the police, showing the neighborhood’s solidarity in the face of government oppression.

Don Anacleto is a schoolteacher who lives near Daniel and Mr. Sempere. Pompous but well-meaning, his garrulous speeches give color to the neighborhood.

Clara's tutor in France. He stumbles upon a novel written by Carax, and becomes obsessed with both the novel and Carax more generally.