Amy Abdelnoor in conversation with Rachel Holmes
Ever Land

Thursday 25 June 2026, 7.00pm – 8.00pm
Hot Box, 28, 29 Viaduct Rd, Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 1TS

Debut novelist Amy Abdelnoor lived and worked in the West Bank and in refugee camps in Lebanon which inspired Ever Land, a powerful story set in 2000s Palestine. A tale of belonging and identity, of devastation and displacement and – ultimately – of the enduring universality of humanity and love.

Amy will be in conversation with Rachel Holmes, author of Sylvia Pankhurst: Natural Born Rebel.

Tickets: £11 (includes £1 booking fee)

Box Office: hotboxlive.co.uk

Amy Abdelnoor

Photo of Amy Abdelnoor Author © Michelle Grant

Amy Abdelnoor is a British Arab writer and English teacher. She studied English and Arabic at the University of Cambridge. She lived and worked in the West Bank and in refugee camps in Lebanon in her early twenties. These experiences inspired Ever Land, her debut novel, an early iteration of which was shortlisted for the 2023 Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize. She is married with three children.

Ever Land

A gripping and powerful story of connection and displacement set in 2000s Palestine.

It is the year 2000 when Dinah, a Jewish teenager from London, arrives in Israel with her family. Still reeling from the death of her beloved dad, the idea of having to start all over again daunts her. Dinah isn’t quite sure what to make of this seemingly pristine place: her new life seems soulless and suffocating.

Another teenager, Safa, watches Dinah settle in. A fourteen-year-old Palestinian who was shot and killed decades ago in the Six Day War, Safa is caught in a limbo which she calls the ‘In-Between’. She is unable to fully pass on without knowing what happened to her younger sister, Nur, who is still alive somewhere. Thirty-three years after her death, the possibility of finding her is suddenly within reach – but she needs Dinah to help her.

Alternating between past and present, and between Safa and Dinah, Ever Land is a gripping and powerful story that sheds light on the ongoing occupation of Palestine. It is a tale of belonging and identity, of devastation and displacement and – ultimately – of the enduring universality of humanity and love.

‘Cleverly conceived and brilliantly engaging . . . a powerful novel. Read this.’
– Priscilla Morris

‘Ambitious and complex but handled with impressive ease.’
– Rose Tremain

Rachel Holmes

Photo of Rachel Holmes © Ruth Crafer

A PalFest veteran, Rachel Holmes is the author most recently of Sylvia Pankhurst: Natural Born Rebel. Her previous books include Eleanor Marx: A Life, The Hottentot Venus: The Life and Death of Sarah Baartman, and The Secret Life of Dr James Barry. In 2026 Rachel was appointed as the authorised biographer of Doris Lessing. From 2009 to 2014 she was tutor and writer in residence at the Palestine Writing Workshop in the West Bank, a PalFest initiative.