Amaral was born in Avintes, in the municipality of Vila Nova de Gaia in the north of Portugal.
She obtained a master's degree in Contemporary Economic and Social History from the Faculty of Letters at the University of Coimbra in 2008, with a thesis entitled Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo - The youthful years at the Universitária Católica Feminina, 1952-1956, which was subsequently published, being the first detailed research to be published on the former prime minister of Portugal.
In addition to her historical research on Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo, she has published books on her birthplace of Avintes and on the town of Góis.
Her fiction includes:[1][3] Her trilogy, Mãe Nossa, (Our Mother) is dedicated to the earth and to environmental problems.
The first book in the trilogy has the sea as its main setting and emphasises the role of corruption in environmental problems.