This novel is for readers who want to immerse themselves in actual events with characters who have authentic and pressing concerns. Breath of the Adamastor illuminates a lesser-known front of World War II: Portugal’s precarious neutrality and its shadow world of spies, refugees, and religious tensions. At the heart of the novel are individuals who never sought to influence world events, yet find themselves changed by them in profound and irreversible ways.

Canadian biologist Ardis Lowney arrives in Lisbon determined to pursue research on the endangered Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle, even as war tightens its grip on Europe. Her work brings her to Portugal’s rugged coast, where scientific purpose coexists uneasily with political surveillance and unspoken danger. In the north, Carlos, a Catholic priest deeply shaped by the miracles of Fatima, accepts a church assignment that conceals its true intent amid the strategic importance of wolfram mining. Meanwhile, Xisco, a young stable hand, earns extra money collecting rocks for foreign buyers, unaware of the forces gathering around his rural village.

As these characters move through intersecting moral landscapes and extraordinary circumstances, their choices unfold against a backdrop that brings wartime Portugal vividly to life. The Adamastor—an ancient sea monster from Portuguese literature whose presence echoes throughout the narrative—adds a symbolic dimension that deepens the novel’s exploration of fate, awe, and the forces that shape human lives.

Publisher's note: Breath of the Adamastor is the new title and second edition of A Life on Water (ISBN 978-1-7386433-2-5) first released in March 2023.