The Black Mountain is a Quick Read short story from bestselling author Kate Mosse.
It is May, 1706. Ana, a young Spanish woman, lives in a small town on the north-west coast of Tenerife with her mother and twin younger brothers. The town is in the shadow of a mighty volcano, which legend says has the devil living inside it. However, there has been no eruption for thousands of years and no one believes it is a threat.
One day, Ana notices that the air feels strange and heavy, that the birds have stopped singing. Tending the family vineyard, a sudden strange tremor in the earth frightens her. Very soon it will be a race against time for Ana to help persuade the town that they are in danger and should flee before the volcano erupts and destroys their world. Will they listen? And Ana herself faces another danger . . .
Kate Mosse was our Guest Editor in November 2012 - click here - to see the books that inspired her writing.
Kate Mosse is a number one international bestselling novelist, playwright and non-fiction writer. The author of several novels and short-story collections – including the multimillion-selling Languedoc Trilogy (Labyrinth, Sepulchre and Citadel) and Gothic fiction The Winter Ghosts and The Taxidermist’s Daughter, which she is adapting for the stage – her books have been translated into thirty-seven languages and published in more than forty countries. She has also written four works of non-fiction – including An Extra Pair of Hands (Wellcome Collection, 2021) - four plays, contributed essays and introductions to classic novels and collections. A champion of women's creativity, Kate is the Founder Director of the Women’s Prize for Fiction and a regular interviewer for theatre and fiction events. She is the Founder of the global campaign - #WomanInHistory – launched in January 2021 to honour, celebrate and promote women’s achievements throughout history and from every corner of the world. Kate divides her time between Chichester in West Sussex and Carcassonne in south-west France. The first two novels in The Burning Chambers series, The Burning Chambers and The City of Tears, are out now.
