The Forest Bride

When Princess Rose is sold in marriage to a repulsive brute, only one person can save her: Prince Dustan, the suitor she hoped for, and the one her father didn't choose. But Rose learns that Dustan harbors a secret: he may not be a prince? or human.With nowhere else to turn, Rose follows Dustan into the forest. She hopes to hide from both her fiancé and her father. But can Rose trust Dustan? Or will his hidden agenda prove even more perilous than the marriage he helped her escape?

Reading the stories that have been passed down in other parts of our planet can be a great way to learn more about the world. Readers of this charming play, based on a Finnish folktale, will venture on a journey into the forest, where one man meets an unlikely bride. Along the way, they'll meet many interesting characters. Eye-catching illustrations are sure to grab readers' attention, while the short, accessible sections of dialogue will keep them turning the pages.

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "Mighty Mikko: A Book of Finnish Fairy Tales and Folk Tales" by Parker Fillmore. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

Reading the stories that have been passed down in other parts of our planet can be a great way to learn more about the world. Readers of this charming play, based on a Finnish folktale, will venture on a journey into the forest, where one man meets an unlikely bride. Along the way, they'll meet many interesting characters. Eye-catching illustrations are sure to grab readers' attention, while the short, accessible sections of dialogue will keep them turning the pages.

When Princess Rose is sold in marriage to a repulsive brute, only one person can save her: Prince Dustan, the suitor she hoped for, and the one her father didn't choose. But Rose learns that Dustan harbors a secret: he may not be a prince? or human.With nowhere else to turn, Rose follows Dustan into the forest. She hopes to hide from both her fiancé and her father. But can Rose trust Dustan? Or will his hidden agenda prove even more perilous than the marriage he helped her escape?

After Warren proposes to Josie, she decides she must make one last attempt to find her long-lost father before she walks down the aisle. She sets off that morning on a journey across the mountains. When her car breaks down and she's invited into the Wright's home she's dumbstruck to find her father there, living a perfect life with a perfect wife and daughter--oblivious of his past. Desperate to stay she agrees to anything asked of her--giving up her identity, her past and ultimately her voice. When Warren arrives and is captured by the spell of the Wrights, Josie must decide between her father and her future, her silence and her voice--a choice which plays out in the final scene of Warren and Belle's wedding. ONCE UPON A BRIDE THERE WAS A FOREST is a lyrical, haunting, and surprisingly funny fairy tale about children and parents, forgetting and remembering, and the power of a good story to capture us or set us free. "A beautifully imagined modern day fairytale," Amanda LaPergola, Theater is Easy "Palmer weaves a bit of Dark Shadows, a wee bit of Rocky Horror, a flicker of Twilight Zone and even a hint of The Wizard of Oz into a full-length comedy-drama-thriller perfect for a dark night when hopes seem thin." Jon Sobel, BlogCritics

Description The myth of Drishadvati appears in the Mahabharata as the 'story of the salvation of kings by a maiden.' While tales of surrogacy abound in the Indian epics, this is the first known example of a womb-on-rent. This strange story-of a girl whose fertility was bartered repeatedly in exchange for priceless horses-has intrigued modern scholars, playwrights and authors for its cultural significance. While earlier adaptations have cast its theme as the exploitation of a helpless woman, Bride of the Forest presents it as the story of girl who is surprisingly radical in her ultimate rejection of patriarchy. Staying true to the original myths and springing entirely from the world of the Mahabharata, the novel brings to life several other characters: Garuda, the divine bird who flies Lord Vishnu around the world: the proud kings of Ayodhya, Pratisthan and Kashi; the arrogant queen, Devayani, and her duplicitous maid-whose stories reveal an intricate tapestry of human and divine relationships. Intertwined in the tales of traditional rivalries is the age-old war between the asuras and the devas that gave rise to the perennial male quest for immortality, transmuted into the human desire for sons that lies at the root of commercial surrogacy even today. However, it is the story of Drishadvati, her sacrifice and her nobility, that will enchant the reader.

The spirit of nationalism that swept over the small peoples of Europe in the early nineteenth century touched faraway Finland and started the Finns on the quest of the Finnish. There as elsewhere scholars who were also patriots found that the native tongue, lost to the educated and the well-to-do, had been preserved in the songs and stories which were current among the peasants. Elias Lönnrot spent a long and busy life collecting those ancient runos from which he succeeded in building up a national epic, the Kalevala. This is Lönnrot's great contribution to his own country and to the world. Beside the material for the Kalevala Lönnrot made important collections of lyrics, proverbs, and stories. During his time and since other patriot scholars have made faithful records of the songs and tales which the old Finnish minstrels, the runolaulajat, chanted to the strains of the kantele. The mass of such material now gathered together in the archives of the Society of Finnish Literature at Helsingfors is imposing in bulk and of great importance to the student of comparative folklore.