Life in Mallorca has always been far from relaxed for Anna and her family. But with her PR agency in London being merged, she finds herself with more time to explore the culture and history of the island that she calls home (well, in-between all the local fiestas, and tending to their 40 hens and cockerels, cats, frogs, donkeys and Johnny the Toad, that is). Anna sets off to explore: while marathon training in the famed Serra de Tramuntana mountain range she hears the tales of the pirates and terrifying brigands that ruled the area in the 17th century, is spooked by the ghostly Moorish legends that still seem to haunt the surrounding hills, and stumbles upon the hideout of the fearsome Turkish pirate, Barbarossa.

Anna Nicholas is the author of Goats on a Small Island and Donkeys on My Doorstep. She has also written for the Financial Times, The Independent, the London Evening Standard and Tatler magazine.