THE PARCHMENT

The Parchment is a peripatetic adventure story, interwoven with a nascent romance that starts in Egypt when Alexandria is captured by the Muslims in 641AD. The travellers depart with a precious vellum that holds the key to unlocking the lost language of the Pharaohs as well as containing a secret formula, dating from the time of Archimedes. They encounter scenes of desolation and numerous hazards on a journey that takes them to Sicily and the Italian mainland, where the parchment is to be delivered to monks at the famous Monte Cassino Monastery. Describing a time when external enemies and internal divisions threatened the future of civilization, the story raises fundamental questions that are increasingly relevant today, where the comfortable existence that the West still enjoys can no longer be taken for granted in an increasingly hostile world.