Luz Gabas – författare

At once an epic family drama and a sweeping love story that spans both an ocean and a generation, Palm Trees in the Snow is an emotionally gripping and historically vivid tale of the secrets that can destroy a family—and the bonds that endure.

When Clarence of Rabaltué discovers a series of old letters from her father’s past, she begins to doubt everything she thought she knew about her once-noble family. Her father and his brother worked in the colony of Fernando Po, but these letters tell a different story than the tales of life in Africa that made it to the dinner table. Clarence has no idea what really went on during their time at the cocoa plantations—or why no one in her family has ever returned to the island in all the years since. But the letters suggest that a great love story is buried beneath the years of silence.

Setting out from her home in Spain’s snowy mountains, Clarence makes the same journey across the sea that her uncle and father traveled before her. There, she unlocks the painful secrets her family has hidden in the rich African soil. But what she discovers may also be the key to awakening her own listless heart.

Past and present are interwoven in this story of everlasting love, where the shadow of witchcraft and man’s greed are defeated by one woman’s passion that transcends space and time.

Brianda, a young engineer, leaves her comfortable life in Madrid to learn more about her ancestors. When she travels to a cold, isolated village high in the Pyrenees to explore her roots, Brianda discovers a family secret—and a new love interest. The mysterious Corso, who is challenging destiny by restoring the neglected manor he has inherited, offers to help Brianda in her research. Together they uncover another woman named Brianda in the family archives, a woman who lived four centuries ago.

Heiress to the distinguished lord of Orrun, Brianda of Lubich defied convention by refusing to marry and carry on the family lineage. In a land convulsed by wars, twenty-four women were accused in one of the most dramatic episodes in the history of Spanish witchcraft. Due to her unconventional ways, Brianda became a target. She makes a promise to her true love, a promise she may not live to keep.