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    The Hidden: The Hidden Series, #1
    The Hidden: The Hidden Series, #1
    The Hidden: The Hidden Series, #1
    Ebook92 pages1 hour

    The Hidden: The Hidden Series, #1

    By JO CHUMAS

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    About this ebook

    FIVE STARS FOR THE HIDDEN

     

    WHAT READERS ARE SAYING

     

    "Jo Chumas is a brilliant storyteller, her descriptions of Cairo envelope you into their complex stories, you can virtually smell the city and imagine life among the many fascinating characters she has unfolded. A fascinating history into Egypt itself which has made me want to find out more. I was unable to put this book down and now I am at a loss to know what to read next."

     

    "A great novel should transport you to a time and place. The Hidden took me straight to the heart of Cairo where the heat and the buzz of the streets, with all their sights, sounds and smells, were tangible. This is an epic tale of loss, love, revenge and revolution, where no-one is quite as they seem. The breadth and scope of the novel, together with tight management of a large cast, are two of Chumas's greatest achievements."

     

    THE HIDDEN (Book 1, Part 1)

     

    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.

     

    Told through her scribblings in her parchment notebook, The Hidden (Book 1, Part 1), 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, the original novel The Hidden has become a seven-book series.

    LanguageEnglish
    Publisher8dpress
    Release dateOct 3, 2020
    ISBN9781393668428
    The Hidden: The Hidden Series, #1

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      Book preview

      The Hidden - JO CHUMAS

      HELLO

      Thank you for checking out my novel The Hidden which is Book 1, Part 1 in The Hidden Series. I hope you enjoy it. Sign up to my Readers’ Club to get exclusive access to my writing world. You’ll find the sign-up form at the end of the novel.

      Love Jo xx

      Like me on Facebook by clicking here.

      Follow me on Bookbub by clicking here.

      THE HIDDEN

      Winner of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award 2013 – Thriller/Suspense

      PUBLISHERS WEEKLY called The Hidden  a sophisticated, first-rate mystery novel/political thriller......an excellent, well-written, and forceful work of fiction.

      BOOKLIST said: Egyptian-history buffs will love this complex story, set in 1940 Cairo, of love, betrayal, and political machinations. Fans of Elizabeth Peters and Wilbur Smith will find much to enjoy here.

      HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW said: the strongest and most appealing elements of the novel are its richness of setting details and characterization. Everything about the way the characters think and how they relate to each other feels authentic. This is a stunning launch for a new fiction writer.

      What Readers Are Saying

      Devoured in two days, a brilliant story. Jo Chumas is a brilliant storyteller, her descriptions of Cairo envelope you into their complex stories, you can virtually smell the city and imagine life among the many fascinating characters she has unfolded. A fascinating history into Egypt itself which has made me want to find out more. I was unable to put this book down and now I am at a loss to know what to read next.

      Best book I have read in a long time. could not put it down.

      Amazing story line. Could not put it down. It taught me a lot how life was in Egypt for young princess.

      Like what you’ve read here?

      Click through to get this FREE novel The Hidden now, and if you like this novel, the first book in this epic family saga and thriller and suspense series, you can get Book 1, Part 2 called The Rebel Princess for FREE by signing up to my mailing list.

      You’ll find the sign-up form at the end of the novel.

      CHAPTER ONE

      The journal of Hezba Iqbal Sultan Hanim al-Shezira, Cairo, August 1, 1919

      The beatings are getting worse, but Habrid’s brutality serves no purpose. I won’t be stopped. He can beat me raw, but he will never crush me.

      I am a seventeen-year-old woman, not a child, yet he treats me like one. He has no right. After his latest beating, I immediately defied him, marching straight into Papa’s library, and stole a new journal for myself, the one I am writing in now. I am ecstatic that I have these beautiful new scented and blank pages to write on. I went there, unaccompanied, of course, because even Rachid would not be a party to my deception. I stole the blank journal openly, hoping to be caught. I want the whole palace to know that Habrid, the head eunuch, is an animal who deserves to be strung up like the lowest, commonest criminal and that he has reduced me to stealing.

      He told me he had orders to keep an eye on me, that Maman wants me beaten, as a lesson. Papa would never order such a thing, but he is away, busy with government affairs, and chaos has once again descended on the palace. Habrid ripped the pages from my last journal, shredded them in front of me, and then ordered the shreds burned. After that, he took me to the solitary room and thrashed me twenty times with a wet rolled-up cotton sheet. I’m convinced Habrid is in league with my husband, al-Shezira. With great lacerations on my skin from the thrashing, I am no longer attractive. This is how they want me, scarred, unlovable, and beaten into submission. Al-Shezira and Maman think that if Habrid beats me, I’ll grow tired of speaking my mind and I’ll repent and become a good servile wife. Al-Shezira is a fool. They want me to be true as a woman. But I will always disappoint them. I know I am being watched. I feel their eyes on me. I hear the whispering among the eunuchs and servant girls. I can hear Maman’s words, can see her face as she shames me, but she does not see what I see.

      Her world is jewels and low couches and delicious food and excursions. She thinks I am a shameful girl for looking at her with questioning eyes, for wanting to read the works of modern Egyptian writers, for the rumours she hears about me, rumours I cannot stop.

      What would a young girl want a notebook for? Maman asked me yesterday. I can’t believe she asked me that. She looked at me contemptuously as she spoke to me, her mouth frozen in a crooked half smile.

      Intelligence, curiosity, and distracting pastimes must be strictly controlled. Do not ask questions, Daughter. Don’t question those whose place it is to guide and direct you. Don’t question Allah’s way, nor the look in my eyes when I tell you these things. Your father would not have chosen me for his bride if he sensed I was dreaming of books.

      Maman doesn’t know, nor will I ever tell her, that I want to start a school one day and educate girls so they can live useful lives, not be simply slaves at men’s service. Girls are ignored and sold into slavery and subservience, or if they are from wealthy backgrounds, they are married off to the first good strategic match the parents can find.

      Maman would not understand. She has served Papa since they were married, as his wife, as the bearer of his children.

      Maman adjusted the silk covering her legs as she spoke; then she snapped her fingers in the vague direction of her eunuch. I looked at her with pity and fear, secretly dreaming of a night at the theatre to alleviate my boredom. I wished Maman loved me. But she does not. It is so obvious that she has no interest in me or my education. She just wants me back with al-Shezira. It’s Papa I really love truly, but I don’t see him much anymore now that he is so often away on government business in Minya. Still, my mind is on fire and I confess

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