Roxelana
(NEWLY RELEASED)

The remarkable novel of a famous Ukrainian writer Pavlo Zahrebelny “Roxelana” has been an epicenter of the Ukrainian readership attention for over thirty years. And who can blame it, as this work seems to reopen one of the most legendary Ukrainian women of all times, that by the will of fate, from a simple captive became at first favorite, then official and later the only (!) wife of the most powerful sultan in a thousand-year history of the Osman Empire, Suleiman the Magnificent.

The whole Osman dynasty did not have the woman of similar social importance to that of Roxelana.

Having fascinated Suleiman with her beauty, cheerfulness and sharp mind, the daughter of the Ukrainian priest from Rohatyn (now Ivano-Frankivsk region, Ukraine) Nastia Lisovska has over thirty years played a crucial role in the cultural and political life of the empire.

One of the most highly educated women of her time, Roxelana-Hurrem (“Hurrem” is translated as “the smiling one”) accepted the foreign ambassadors, corresponded with kings, influential nobles and artists. On each of the thirteen Suleiman’s crusades, during the days of estrangement, she corresponded with the sultan by exquisite poems in Persian and Arab.

In XVI century the Florentines even placed in their painting gallery a ceremonial portrait of Hurrem, to which she sit for a venetian painter. That was the only woman portrait among the images of bearded sultans in turbans. Hurrem built mosques and charity facilities (hospices, dining rooms for pilgrims and the homeless) In Istanbul and she even owned a charity foundation in her own name.

Several books were written about Roxelana-Hurrem, two popular TV-series were filmed, paintings were dedicated to her along with music pieces (particularly, Symphony №63 “Roxelana” by J. Haydn) etc.

It is a novel for wide readership and a luxurious gift-book.