1.1.28

An antique ring bought in Antwerp, Belgium, carries the inscription 1.1.28. Around this ring, Marina Lykoudi weaves a fictitious story whose plot unfolds primarily in Bruges, where the strictly Catholic Hendrik marries the innocent sixteen-year-old Godelieve. He met her during the preparations for the annual religious pageantry and sealed their engagement with a ring, as was the custom. Their union remains unconsummated; a fact that has many consequences, which, however, the couple temporarily set aside when one wintry morning they discover a baby on their doorstep. 

The fictional story that Angela Emsen created takes place in three locations: Antwerp, Naxos, and Constantinople. The principal character, Zambeta, a poor girl from Naxos, fins herself in Contantinople, when a wealthy family offers to take her in and look after her. On this momentous occasion, which will transform her life, she only carries a unique heirloom from her birthplace and family. Her life in Constantinople, with all its highs and lows, coincides with the most turbulent times of the city's history. 

Many years later, her granddaughter narrates her story. The originality of the book lies in the fact that these two completely  different stories are connected totally unexpectedly in Antwerp.