**
Based on a true story set in the final years of the Ottoman Empire, The
Purchased Bride relates the story of Maria, a Greek girl who was bought
when she was fifteen by a much older, wealthy Ottoman man.**
As 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.
She 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.
A story of war, struggle, and ultimate success, based on the life of
Constantine's grandmother, The Purchased Bride sheds light on a
turbulent and dangerous part of history.