“It is remarkable that an unlikely story about a mad heretic plotting a massacre has been repeated uncritically for almost 400 years,” Koehler says. His alternative scenario describes “extreme violence driven by famine”

My friend Justine grew up on Big Rat. She remembers tiger sharks ramming the hull of her dad’s fishing boat and watching a whirlpool of fins, waiting for a bucket of guts to be tipped over the side. This was all I knew of the Abrolhos. Islands have always attracted writers and readers as rich fictional microcosms. Here’s a review of three books perfect for a Christmas on deck read.

The Abrolhos are phenomenal! Clusters of islands and reefs hover just a few metres above sea level and are interspersed with fishermen’s dwellings that are occupied during the high season.