The Black Mountain

Name: The Black Mountain
Rating: 3.84 (3065 reviews)

by Kate Mosse

First published 2022

Amazon

3.8(3,065)

Tenerife, May 1706. Ana lives with her mother and younger twin brothers in a town beneath a volcano that has been quiet for generations. While tending the family vineyard, she notices heavy air, silent birds and tremors beneath the ground. Her warnings are difficult to prove, and established authority is reluctant to abandon homes and livelihoods on the judgment of a young woman.

As the Trevejo eruption begins, Ana must persuade others to evacuate before lava reaches the coast and destroys Garachico’s harbour. Written as a Quick Reads novella, the story concentrates on the hours in which observation becomes action. The historical disaster provides a direct survival narrative about family responsibility, communal disbelief and the cost of waiting for certainty.