Malva is the princess of Galnicia, destined to marry the Prince of Andemark. Or so her parents think. On the eve of her wedding, she escapes at dead of night from under her parents' noses, little realising that she is letting herself in for a life of peril and adventure, including being shipwrecked in a huge storm and being captured as part of a harem.

Hugely visual, the book tells of the wonder of frozen steppes and oriental palaces, of sailing ships and treasure islands.

This is a book of drama, magic and excitement, where challenges have to be overcome, friendships cemented, and hearts broken.

A note from the author: "When I was ten, I devoured stories about explorers.

I asked my parents for a world map, and hung it above my bed.

On it, in pencil, I traced the itineraries of Marco Polo, Phileas Fogg ,Ulysses, Magellan and Michael Strogoff.

Real or make-believe, these characters fascinated me, and I swore that one day too I would cicumnavigate the world. "The Princess and the Captain" is an idea that grew slowly, over four years.

I wanted to create an imaginary world, similar to our own, set in the Age of Discovery. A mirror world, if you like, full of mysterious, unexplored territories, which could reflect the fears and hopes of men.

I wanted love, hatred, danger, and, in the eye of the storm, real flesh and blood characters pursuing their own dreams, their own El Dorado Malva and Orfeus have travelled with me a long way.

It's time to let them go now, to sail towards new readers".