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PRODID:-//Essex Book Festival - ECPv4.0.4//NONSGML v1.0//EN
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X-WR-CALNAME:Essex Book Festival
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID="Europe/London":20260625T190000
DTEND;TZID="Europe/London":20260625T200000
DTSTAMP:20260518T133807
CREATED:20260326T090051
LAST-MODIFIED:20260326T091932
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SUMMARY:Ever Land
DESCRIPTION:Amy Abdelnoor in conversation with Rachel Holmes\nEver Land\nThursday 25 June 2026\, 7.00pm - 8.00pm\nHot Box\, 28\, 29 Viaduct Rd\, Chelmsford\, Essex\, CM1 1TS\nDebut 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.\n\nAmy will be in conversation with Rachel Holmes\, author of Sylvia Pankhurst: Natural Born Rebel.\n\nTickets: £11 (includes £1 booking fee)\n\nBox Office: hotboxlive.co.uk\nAmy Abdelnoor\n[caption id="attachment_11559" align="alignnone" width="300"] Photo of Amy Abdelnoor Author © Michelle Grant[/caption]\n\nAmy 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.\nEver Land\n\n\nA gripping and powerful story of connection and displacement set in 2000s Palestine.\n\nIt 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.\n\nAnother 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.\n\nAlternating 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.\n‘Cleverly conceived and brilliantly engaging . . . a powerful novel. Read this.’\n- Priscilla Morris\n\n‘Ambitious and complex but handled with impressive ease.’\n- Rose Tremain\n \nRachel Holmes\n[caption id="attachment_11561" align="alignnone" width="240"] Photo of Rachel Holmes © Ruth Crafer[/caption]\n\nA 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.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
URL:http://ec2-35-176-91-154.eu-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/event/ever-land/
LOCATION:28\, 29 Viaduct Road\, Chelmsford\, Essex\, CM1 1TS\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Fiction,In Conversation
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