{"product_id":"the-purchased-bride-9781646052271","title":"The Purchased Bride","description":"\u003cb\u003eBased on a true story set in the final years of the Ottoman Empire, \u003ci\u003eThe Purchased Bride\u003c\/i\u003e tells the tale of Maria, a Greek girl who was bought at age fifteen by a much older, wealthy Ottoman man.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003eAs the Ottoman Empire falls and insurgents torch their Greek village in the Caucasus, Maria and her parents flee and find shelter in a refugee camp across the border in Ottoman territory. Cholera and plague are impending, and the priest running the camp takes a desperate measure, arranging to marry Maria off to a wealthy Ottoman Turk in the capital. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe and her best friend, Lita, then travel toward the Black Sea coast through a fascinating world of ancient and forgotten Ottoman mountain communities. They encounter escalating violence, sniper attacks, and marauding troops amid the Empire's collapse, as breakaway provinces declare themselves independent caliphates in defiance of the Sultan. And when Lita escapes, Maria is left to face her fate alone. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e A story of war, struggle, and ultimate success, based on the life of Constantine's grandmother, \u003ci\u003eThe Purchased Bride\u003c\/i\u003e sheds light on a turbulent and dangerous part of history.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePeter Constantine is a literary translator and editor, and the director of the Literary Translation Program at the University of Connecticut. His recent translations, published by Random House (Modern Library), include \u003ci\u003eThe Essential Writings of Rousseau, The Essential Writings of Machiavelli, \u003c\/i\u003e and works by Tolstoy, Gogol, and Voltaire. His translation of the complete works of Isaac Babel received the Koret Jewish Literature Award and a National Jewish Book Award citation. A Guggenheim Fellow, he was awarded the PEN Translation Prize for \u003ci\u003eSix Early Stories\u003c\/i\u003e by Thomas Mann, and the National Translation Award for \u003ci\u003eThe Undiscovered Chekhov\u003c\/i\u003e. This is his first novel\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Deep Vellum Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50388026589458,"sku":"9781646052271","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_0a592c5e-5a17-4ec8-b337-003433e4a5b3.jpg?v=1728886491","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-purchased-bride-9781646052271","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}