The Francisco File

En route from Dublin to their holiday on Madeira, archivist Brendan and his partner Gabriel come across an extraordinary file in the National Archive of Lisbon: six love letters written in 1690 by one monk to another, at the height of the Portuguese Inquisition. The find leads to a second trove of correspondence, from the same monk to his sister, describing his narrow escape from the monastery and his adventures across Italy, Greece, and Turkey.

As the letters are revealed, Brendan and Gabriel are drawn into a meditation on love, persecution, and the striking parallels between past and present. But the story’s dangers are not confined to history. When the son of the letters' owner appears, determined to reclaim his legacy, he threatens to call a halt to the project being undertaken by the two men.

Spanning four centuries and crossing Europe by way of the lush island of Madeira, this is a story of hidden lives, enduring love, and the power of discovery.