Children of the Middle SeaIn the year 1282, after their daring heroics in the revolt of the Sicilian Vespers, Esmeray with her sailing skills and Bastone with his crossbow, liberating Sicily, the couple find a haven on the island of Favignana. But the War of the Sicilian Vespers reignites, dragging them into their prior roles as spies. Finding strength in each other, they once more join the patriots to rid the Angevins from Sicily. They return to their sanctuary on the island of Favignana, a few miles off the coast of Sicily. Esmeray gives birth to a daughter. On the island, they lead a calm life as fishermen and sharing the welcome challenge of raising their adventurous daughter, Aspasia. Bastone also works in a vineyard, enjoying working on the land.Esmeray and Bastone, however, long for the open sea. Esmeray becomes captain of a Sicilian trading ship. Their daughter sails with her parents and works as a cabin boy and learns sailing skills from the crew. The couple open a trading post in the Hafsid Kingdom, sailing a trade route between Sicily and Bejaia, North Africa. Their daughter makes friends with Italian and Muslim children and learns about new cultures. On one of their trade runs, they survive a battle with Pisan pirates. The girl seems to enjoy the wide variety of experiences, but Esmeray wonders if it is the best home for their daughter. Their family bonds grow stronger with each crisis as they overcome storms, pirates, and deadly threats from rival traders. Then once again, the never-ending War of the Sicilian Vespers shatters their ship is captured by invading fleets on a trade run to Sicily. They want to join the Sicilian patriots to defend their adopted homeland again, but they also have a daughter to protect. Do they fight or pursue new horizons?The Mediterranean Sea, its name derived from the Latin words medius and terra, "sea in the middle of the earth" is a crucible, a mixing pot of people and cultures, the cradle of many civilizations, giving birth to the novel Children of the Middle Sea, the second volume of the Lover of the Sea series, joining the first volume, Lantern Across the Sea.
