The Icon of Arbanasi

Product Description A gripping love story; a violent uprising; the legend of the icon of Arbanasi It is the late seventeenth century and Bulgaria lives under the yoke of Ottoman rule. In the village of Arbanasi a beautiful Bulgarian peasant girl and the son of the local Turkish ruler fall deeply in love against a backcloth of an uprising against Ottoman oppression. Rayna is overwhelmed by the conflicting emotions of her love for Bayram and her loyalty to her own people. Ultimately their love ends in tragedy, but will there be a second chance? The Icon of Arbanasi is a powerful novel about love, loyalty and the bonds of friendship interwoven with the ancient Bulgarian legend of the icon of the Virgin Mary. About the Author Geoff is a freelance author and poet. Geoff was born in London, but has spent almost all of his adult life, up until moving to Bulgaria, in rural North Wales. In what he says feels like a previous life Geoff was a child care professional.He graduated in Sociology at Portsmouth and later qualified as a social worker at Liverpool. He spent over thirty years working mainly in child protection, firstly in a local authority, later moving to a well-known children's charity. In the later part of his social work career Geoff worked on projects aiming to improve child care provision across Europe including in Bulgaria. Geoff is married to a beautiful German woman from a literary family - Marieluise's mother was a successful novelist - and hopes that with the publication of his third book he may at last have attained full family membership. Geoff has two grown up daughters and four grandchildren. He enjoys life with his horses, growing vegetables and sitting outside on a warm evening drinking beer with his friends. Geoff is the author of a popular travelogue, Bulgaria: Unfinished Business, and has written one other novel entitled Second Time Lucky. His favourite authors are George Orwell and Kurt Vonnegut. See Geoff's blog at www.geoffsbgblog.wordpress.com