The Bride Price
Suzanne Popp was born into a large military family that traveled across the United States in her early childhood. She was raised in the country and has a love of rural life. When her brothers went to Vietnam, she and her husband Ken went to the Peace Corps following graduation from college. In West Africa, she taught English and African literature at a Post Secondary Teachers Training College in the Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana which borders the Ivory Coast. Students ranged in age from 18 to 45 years of age. Some were working to become certified after years of pupil teaching, while others wanted to gain entry into the university and were working on the ‘A’ level exams. During the vacation periods, she traveled over 16,000 miles overland in Central, East and Northern Africa by native transport, and witnessed the rapid change of governments from colonial occupation to independence. As a woman, she gained admittance into the households of young wives and mothers of all beliefs; she shared in their joy and their hardships, and listened as they poured out their dreams of a better future to her. Suzanne has returned to Africa many times, and been actively involved in the education of girls and vulnerable children, as well as building homes for those in need through work with VillageSteps, the charity founded by her family for the education of orphans and vulnerable children, especially girls,  and Global Village, the international branch of Habitat for Humanity. Suzanne is a mother, a grandmother, and an advocate for literacy and humanity in emerging countries as well as locally.  At home on her horse farm in Enumclaw, Washington, she writes, is active in the arts, and serves as Director of VillageSteps, the charity founded by her family. This is her first novel, and she hopes you will find it encouraging and let her know how it affects you.