The Pasha’s Concubine

“The Pasha’s Concubine” (1926) is one of Ivo Andrić’s finest novellas. This is a story about a beautiful, young and unfortunate Christian girl called Mara, who was forced into concubinage for a Turkish pasha during his service in Sarajevo. Unprotected and without family support, she spent some time in Veli pasha’s house, where he used her for his own pleasure, until he left the town and abandoned her, leaving her alone, humiliated and despised. Rejected by society, Mara was destined to an unhappy fate in a cruel and inhospitable world. Mara is one of Andrić’s heroines whose fatal beauty causes their ill fortune.