THE WHODUNIT WANDERER, DR. MANJIRI PRABHU*
The Message from the Hearts…
I have always claimed that I have a connection with the destinations I write about. And this couldn’t have been more startlingly evident than in Portugal.
Destination Thrillers are all about that particular destination – history, culture, monuments and architecture, folklore, nature and legends, and of course, its people. Almost all of my thrillers have unfolded in one town, in that particular country—except The Mystery of the Portuguese Hearts.
This novel was a delightful collaboration with Portuguese tourism, and I was introduced to some of the picturesque towns of Northern Portugal—Porto, Guimarães, Penafiel, Amarante, Viana do Castelo, Vila Verde, and Freixo de Espada à Cinta. Each place boasted its own history and unique architecture and was perfect to be featured in the novel. And each city deserves an independent article; there is so much to see and appreciate.
But I experienced a major concern. It was one thing to weave a story around a single destination, but quite another to incorporate multiple cities spread across Northern Portugal. During my entire research trip, I asked myself this question repeatedly: how do I incorporate all these towns in a logical plot and justify their presence in the book?
Finally, almost towards the end of my trip, I moved from the sleepy Manueline border town of Freixo de Espada à Cinta (with Spain across the Douro River) to the coastal Viana do Castelo by the Atlantic Ocean.
This quaint town on the River Lima stretches on either side of a metal Eiffel bridge. The serene Lima flows ahead to meet the ocean in a gradual shape of the crescent moon. The meeting and mingling of flowing waters and then the vast stretch of the ocean—hazy and milky in the cloudy gray of the filtered sun rays—form a breathtaking landscape.
Viana do Castelo had two unique features that fascinated me. First – The magnificent Cathedral Santa Luzia, standing majestically on top of a hill, overlooking the grand Atlantic Ocean. A revitalist Romanesque-Byzantine architecture, the Basilica is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the name of the Cathedral comes from a small chapel, called Capela de Santa Luzia, which existed at the top of the hill until 1926. A bronze-green statue stands in front of the Sanctuary and is of the Sacred Heart of Jesus by the sculptor Aleixo Queirós Ribeiro, dated around 1898.
The Basilica is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus—hence Templo do Sagrado Coração de Jesus – Temple of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The second feature that drew my attention was again of a heart—the Viana heart, an extremely popular symbol of Viana do Castelo and an apt connection to the Basilica. Legend goes that centuries ago, a beautiful girl named Ana fell in love with a poor craftsman called Thomas. But her father, Don Florentin, was dead against the marriage because he wanted his daughter to marry a nobleman. Once, when he found the two of them meeting secretly, he was so angry that he sentenced Thomas to death. Ana was devastated, and to please her father and save Thomas, she agreed to marry the man her father chose for her. Don Florentin wanted to find the perfect match for Ana and announced that any man who presented her with the most beautiful jewellery set would marry her. The villagers all came together because they believed in Ana and Thomas’s love. Each woman in the village gave Thomas a piece of gold, and Thomas created an exquisite heart as a symbol and proof of his love. It was so stunning that Don Florentin had to accept their love. To celebrate their love, the women from the village would gather outside Ana’s window, where she would display the golden hearts as proof of their eternal love. The legend continued to grow, and till date, the women of Viana do Castelo still use the symbol of a filigree golden heart to celebrate eternal love.
It was this heart and its connection to the Basilica that finally conveyed a message to me.
On the last morning of my visit to Viana do Castelo, I was walking along the beach by the ocean. The sun was bright, and the waves rolled up to my feet. I was a little anxious that I still hadn’t narrowed down the plot for the novel. As I walked along the beach, I called out to the spirit of Viana—the hearts—to Templo do Sagrado Coração de Jesus… for a sign, for a message to confirm that I was on the right path. It was at that precise moment that my head jerked to a point on the sand. A green-white, sea-worn pebble, carried in by the sea waves, was lodged in the sand. My heartbeat quickened as I stared at it, for long minutes. The pebble was in the shape of a heart—the Viana heart! I clasped it and whispered a grateful ‘thank you’ to the spirit of Viana do Castelo. I had received my message. I headed straight to my room, and by the end of the day, I had a crystal-clear outline of my story and plot!
The Mystery of the Portuguese Hearts was destined to be born, and that morning proved it beyond doubt.
*Dr. Manjiri Prabhu is an award-winning international author, short filmmaker, and the curator & founder/director of two international festivals.
