В произведениях вошедших в книгу, написанных на рубеже XIX - XX века Мурацаном (настоящее имя - Григор Тер-Ованисян), автор показывает жизнь армянской деревни того периода, рисует портреты ее жителей, их взаимоотношения. В однотомник включены рассказы "Богачи развлекаются", "Непременно стать княгиней (Из жизни армян)", "Тайна бывшего патриота", "Муж предполагает, а жена располагает", "Протест венков", повести "Ноев ворон", "Сестры милосердия", "Апостол".
Muratsan (orig. Grigor Ter-Hovanissian, December 1, 1854 , Shushi - September 12, 1908 , Tbilisi) was an Armenian writer, the author of "Gevorg Marzpetuni", an historical novel (1896) set in Armenia in the 10th century.
Muratsan studied at Shushi diocese school, then moved to Tiflis (Tbilisi), where he worked as a teacher and accountant and remained for the rest of his life. He became famous after the production of his historical drama "Ruzan" at a Tiflis theatre in 1882. He was the author of many short-stories and novels, including "The Apostle" (1902). An intensely nationalistic writer, Muratsan was a nineteenth-century romantic in style and an advocate of traditional cultural and religious values.
Ten years after his death, Muratsan's properties in Tiflis were expropriated in the Russian revolution. A collection of stereopticon pictures of ancient Armenian ruins, in the possession of an American great-grandson, is thought to be the only remnant of his personal library.