Els de Groen

During the early 1990s Els de Groen traveled extensive through Albania, where she heard about the Kanun the ancient book of laws that has a great influence on the lives of people in Albania. The Kanun of Albania should not be confused with the Quanun, sometimes also referred to as Kanun, which were laws promulgated by Muslim sovereigns, particularly the Ottoman Sultans. The Kanun of Albania are a codex that is believed to go back to sources in the Bronze Age, possibly retaining elements from Indo-European prehistory. The oral laws were first codified in the Fifteenth Century, although there is earlier written evidence that such customary laws were in effect.

In the novel De bruidskogel, the Kanun plays an important role. The Kanun applies to all Albanians, both Christians and Muslima, alike. In 12 books consisting of 1,262 articles, the Kanun governs the basics spheres of life in Albania, deciding how to conduct in all matters of society ranging from the church; family and marriage; the house, livestock and property, and transfer of property; Work; and above all, Honour. During the Communist period, the Kanun was effectively suppressed, but since the fall of Communism in 1989, the Kanun has made a come-back. Although young people try to ignore these ancient traditions, the Kanun is particularly prevalent in matters of honour for which no equivalent exists in the current Albanian legal code. Thus, as of 2014, some 3,000 Albanian families were estimated to be involved in blood feuds, which, since the early 1990s has led to the deaths of 10,000 people.

In De bruidskogel, Era studies the Kanun. She has been separated from her boyfriend, with whom she is betrothed to become married for many months, and during this she falls in love with Arben. Era's boyfriend, Skënder, is a traditionalist. He is away on a mission to restore honour to his family, in a blood feud to revenge the death of his brother. Arben in more modern. Era struggles with her research into the Kanun, not only to make sense of it for her studies, but also whether and how to apply the Kanun to her own life. She realizes that her affair with Arben would not only hurt Skënder, but in view of the Kanun would lead to severe punishment: a woman who commits adultery may be shot in the back by her husband. However, what preoccupies her more is Skënder's safety. The rule of the blood feud stipulates that all males in both families be murdered. She decides to travel to the remote mountainous area, to find Skënder and stop him from his intended murder.

De bruidskogel is a very intense novel, with an enticing plot. The landscape, the villages and the people are portrayed convincingly. Through the novel, readers learn not only about the astounding aspects of the Kanun, but also some of the poetry of the ancient text.

Els de Groen was a member of the European Parliament for the Netherlands from 2004 - 2009. For more than 20 years, she worked as a journalist, writing for various magazines, and authoring numerous works of fiction and non-fiction. Since the early 1990s, she has demonstrated a profound interest in Eastern Europe.

Her novel, De bruidskogel was published by De Geus, a publisher with a strong interest to publish about developing countries. There is not English translation of De bruidskogel, but readers interested in the Kanun in literature, may find more about it in novels by the Albanian author Ismail Kadare, particularly in his novel Broken April.… (more)