Hitchin author Zoë Folbigg has won Amazon Prime’s Most Read Book of the Year award for her critically-acclaimed bestseller, The Note.

The book – which is based on the true story of how Zoë met her husband Mark, on the 8.21am train from Hitchin to London King’s Cross – was released in March 2017.

Speaking about the award, Zoë said: “I found out on Friday when my publisher emailed me to tell me, and a few friends saw it on Amazon and forwarded me an email they had about it.

“I was so busy with school fairs, Christmas shopping, card writing and cake baking, I didn’t really stop to think what it meant.

“It didn’t sink in until a couple of days later when I stopped to catch my breath and look at it in black and white.”

The Note was the first book in a “dream” two-book deal with publisher Aria, but its success has surprised Zoë.

“It was just a dream to get a book deal I worked so hard for and to have The Note, as a physical book, on the shelves of Waterstones and David’s Bookshop,” she said.

“That was my goal, I didn’t think beyond that and consider that it might be an Amazon bestseller.

“I was already over the moon to have achieved my dream, but its success has been the cherry on the cake.”

The best-selling success of the book has opened doors for the Hitchin author, who is currently writing her third book.

“It changed my life in that it’s meant I can work from home, from my kitchen table, and be around for my boys and all their school pursuits and activities,” she said.

“It’s opened doors for me and I’m meeting some really amazing people who have loved the book and have their own stories to tell.”

It was so successful that since the release of her second book, The Distance, Zoë as been offered a deal for two more books – both of which are very much still under wraps.

“I’m just trying to finish book three, which is due out next summer. It’s another romance,” she said.

“Then I need to start book four for 2020, so every time I go for a run I’m thinking about how that’s going to shape up.

“I can’t say anything just yet, but I’m hoping to announce some very exciting news in early 2019 and I’ll be sure to tell the Comet first!”