O segredo da Illa Negra (‘The Secret of Black Island’)

Synopsis

The two long stories in this book are narrated following in the footsteps of the marvellous tales from the oral tradition, with the addition of elements belonging to the thriller and mystery genres.

“The Mermaid of Black Island”, is the longest of the two tales. It tells the story of Sara, a girl who lives in a coastal village. Her brother Uriel, a fisherman like their father, throws his nets into the waters surrounding Black Island, which is inhabited by a cruel mermaid who soon takes him prisoner. Sara decides to sail to the island to free Uriel, aided only by three magical shells.

In the other story, “The Snow Curse”, the protagonist is also a girl: Blanca lives with her parents on a farm in a remote valley. When a strange black fog fills the valley, everyone who lives there appears to die, everyone except Blanca, who possesses a magic triskelion that serves as a protective amulet. The young girl embarks on a long journey to the Tower of the Crows, which she intuits might house the root of the evil. In the Tower she must pass difficult tests with the help of her magical triskelion.