The Parchment Notebook — Jo Chumas

Cairo, Egypt, 1919
Hezba, the rebellious seventeen-year-old daughter of the Sultan of Egypt, lives a life of luxury in a mansion overlooking the river Nile. Locked away in the harem, she has everything she wants, except the one thing that will keep her from madness; her freedom.

The Sultan has ordered Hezba back into the care of her husband, the ageing and abusive Khalil al-Shezira, but Hezba's secret lover has other ideas, so does Hezba. She wants al-Shezira gone from her life and she wants change. She'll stop at nothing to achieve her desires.

In 1919, Egypt, and in a world reeling from the devastation of the First World War, Hezba is considered a dangerous female; as the daughter of the Sultan of Egypt, she is expected to do as she is told.

But for Hezba, submission is impossible; love, revolution and freedom from repression are worth dying for.

The Parchment Notebook was originally published by Thomas & Mercer, USA as The Hidden, a novel that won the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA) in 2013, in the Mystery/Suspense category and became an overnight bestseller.

Now published by 8dpress, Edinburgh, The Hidden has been split into two stories, The Parchment Notebook being the first in The Hidden series. Aimee's War is the second book in the series; The Zephyr, the third; and The Unforgiven the last in the series. All are available for purchase on Amazon. The Hidden, as published by Thomas & Mercer is no longer in print.