Spanish writer Carlos Ruiz Zafón (55) has died. 'I put a lot of pressure on myself.'

With the million-seller The shadow of the wind, the first part of the four-part series The Graveyard of Forgotten Books, Carlos Ruiz Zafón established his name as a writer overnight. His novel The labyrinth of ghosts, which was published in late 2017, was the culmination of a year-long showdown with himself. Not long after, he fell ill; in early 2018, Zafón was told he had colon cancer. The Spanish writer turned 55.

In memory of this compelling storyteller, we let him speak one more time about that last book.

Nearly 850 pages The labyrinth of ghosts, the new novel by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (b. 1964). The previous three volumes of The Graveyard of Forgotten Books weren't thin either, but for the conclusion of his four-volume work, Zafón didn't skimp on ink and paper. Summing up such a full complex novel in a few lines is impossible, but the book revolves around the question of what happened to Mauricio Valls, the notorious former prison warden who made it to minister and suddenly disappeared after receiving several threatening letters. Alicia Gris and Juan Manuel Vargas investigate the case, which brings Alicia into contact with main characters from the earlier volumes, including bookseller Daniel Sempere and Fermín Romero de Torres.

Of course, as in the previous novels, this final volume also features an important role for a book, in this case The labyrinth of ghosts by Victor Mataix. Artfully, Zafón manages to weave together all the threads on his rather complex loom.

The labyrinth of ghosts has taken three years longer than you imagined. Why?

'None of the books took me as long as this novel, it was by far the hardest part to write. Sometimes I had to stop for a while, and I rewrote many passages. I always think long and hard before I start writing, because the architecture of these novels is very important and requires a lot of thought. Once I start, the writing and planing usually take a year, regardless of the size of the book. Now it took three years.'

Did you feel more pressure on your shoulders at this last part?

'Yes, but I put that pressure on myself. After all, this book was the final piece, so the reader expectations, the tension build-up - all the pieces of the puzzle had to be right. It had to be exactly as I had in mind, I couldn't compromise on that. So every time I noticed something wasn't quite right, I had to go back and change it, and that in turn had consequences for the rest, like the ripples in the water.'

For example, what have you had to change?

'The main character in this novel, Alicia Gris, was a man in my original idea. Nothing was right about that. Although I had a list of what that character was supposed to do, the character herself did not come alive. Only after a while did I realise that this character had to be a woman, a very specific woman. Then it fell into place.'

What kind of woman is Alicia?

'I see her as a part of myself. My little dark angel. The horrors of war have damaged her physically and mentally, depriving her of the life she saw before her, forcing her to become someone she does not want to be. This produces a constant inner struggle. She has formed a shield around herself, with which she plays the outside world; sometimes she is a femme fatale, sometimes a fragile madam, sometimes a mysterious woman. She is all these things at once, and then again, she is not. What she clearly is is a being of light and darkness. Someone without scruples, with a rather analytical and cold perception of the world. She wants to be a better person, and to get rid of her pain and rage, the desire to destroy the world.'

In what is she similar to you?

'My perception and way of analysis is similar to hers. She is someone I feel very close to. In the midst of everything she fights, she always knows what to do and stays true to herself. Actually, there are three characters who represent a part of me: Alicia Gris; Julián Carax, the obscure writer from the first volume and a kind of gothic caricature of myself, with my worst traits; and Fermín Romero de Torres, who represents my moral compass and sense of humour.'

Which storyline or character did you struggle with the most?

'With everything! I'm a storyteller. That means creating a theatre piece, with lights and smoke and mirrors, music and sets, costumes, make-up, and making characters move back and forth and give text. For me, the craft of storytelling is more important than the story itself. So I struggle with the whole construction, with all these parts that are needed and that I try to put down as well as I can. At least as well as I can.'

You spent almost two decades working on this tetralogy, which involves so many storylines and dozens of characters. How did you keep control of it?

'Beforehand, I said to myself: this work is going to be complex, with plots and subplots and more subplots that themselves have subplots. Like a juggler holding dozens of balls in the air. You can keep adding one more, until you get to the point where one threatens to fall. My rule was: I make it as complex as I can handle, without having to resort to notes. Fortunately, I have a good memory. Our brain is a machine and one machine can do this, another can do that. This is how my brain works. I like complex things, labyrinths.'

Do you want to challenge the reader or mainly yourself?

'Especially myself, I think. The reader has to get the illusion of simplicity, as if swimming through crystal clear water, and not have to scroll back because he doesn't understand something. My goal is first and foremost to make sure the reader is thoroughly entertained and immersed in that world. To do that, I have to tell it in the best possible, the most enticing and engaging way. When everything is right, a story gradually plants little seeds in the reader's mind, which blossom when they finish the book. Those invisible seeds offer different perspectives and ideas, and make him look at things differently than before. That is what I hope to achieve.'

Buy now:

The labyrinth of ghosts is published by Signatuur, €29.99