He was denied the prestigious post of Veliko Tarnovo Judge, and started writing as a profession.

On his 79th birthday, Donchev married the 64-year-old Rayna Vasileva, a former journalist from the Bulgarian National Radio.

His second book, Time of Parting, which dealt with Islamization in the Bulgarian region of Rhodopes in the 17th century.

Written over a period of 41 days in 1964, the novel made the writer famous.

He received a nomination from the Jane and Irving Stone Foundation for Best Historical Novel.