Daughter of Samarkand

Book One of the Ink & Gold Series

In the golden age of the Silk Road, seventeen-year-old Thuraya bint Yusuf harbours a dangerous secret. While the world sees only the dutiful daughter of Samarkand's most respected calligrapher, she is a gifted illuminator, working in shadows to master arts forbidden to women.

When a prestigious commission from Baghdad's House of Wisdom arrives, Thuraya sees her chance to step into the light, but betrayal lurks closer than she imagines. Forced into a desperate gamble, she must risk everything she holds dear for a future that may already be slipping from her grasp.

As political tensions fracture the Islamic world and old loyalties crumble, Thuraya discovers that the Silk Road's greatest treasures aren't silk or spices: they're knowledge, friendship, and the courage to forge her own destiny. Yet in a world where books and ideas can be as dangerous as swords, her greatest triumph will demand a price she could never have imagined.