The Blood of Flowers: A Novel (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: rug workshop, charm maker, feathers carpet, Four Gardens, Great Room, Shah Abbas (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Iranian-American Amirrezvani's lushly orchestrated debut, a comet signals misfortune to the remote 17th-century Persian village where the nameless narrator lives modestly but happily with her parents, both of whom expect to see the 14-year-old married within the year. Her fascination with rug making is a pastime they indulge only for the interim, but her father's untimely death prompts the girl to travel with her mother to the city of Isfahan, where the two live as servants in the opulent home of an uncle—a wealthy rug maker to the Shah. The only marriage proposal now in the offing is a three-month renewable contract with the son of a horse trader. Teetering on poverty and shame, the girl weaves fantasies for her temporary husband's pleasure and exchanges tales with her beleaguered mother until, having mastered the art of making and selling carpets under her uncle's tutelage, she undertakes to free her mother and herself. With journalistic clarity, Amirrezvani describes how to make a carpet knot by knot, and then sell it negotiation by negotiation, guiding readers through workshops and bazaars. Sumptuous imagery and a modern sensibility (despite a preponderance of flowery language and schematic female bonding and male bullying) make this a winning debut. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School—This is the tale of a 17th-century Persian village girl who makes her way with her mother to a rich uncle's house in the city of Isfahan. As poor relatives, they are treated as servants. The uncle, a master rug maker for the shah, grudgingly teaches her his trade, his love and respect for her increasing with her perseverance and obvious talent. His greedy wife convinces him to accept a three-month "marriage" contract for the girl with a rich horse trader. She learns how to please her "husband" (and herself) sexually, but also learns that he has no intention of making her his permanent wife as she has no money. She vows to make beautiful rugs on her own, and thus ensure her and her mother's financial security. She is banished from her uncle's house when she tells her friend about the marriage contract. She trusts a foreign merchant with her rug and he steals it. Now she must beg and find shelter and a way to begin a new rug. Like Sheherazade, the heroine's mother is a master storyteller, telling tales within this tale that Amirrezvani tells so magically. Readers will not be able to put this book down, from the once-upon-a-time beginning to the well-crafted end.—Ellen Bell, Amador Valley High School, Pleasanton, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1 edition (June 5, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316065765
• ISBN-13: 978-0316065764
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #373,043 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Persian treasure..., August 19, 2007

By	Cynthia K. Robertson (beverly, new jersey USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Anita Amirrezvani has provided us with a superb effort in her very first novel, The Blood of Flowers. In fact, The Blood of Flowers is one of the best books that I've read this year.

The Blood of Flowers is seen through the eyes of a 14 year old village girl who lives in 17th Century Persia. This young girl (who remains nameless throughout) is looking forward to becoming engaged before the end of the year. She is also a talented but amateur carpet maker. A comet proves to be a bad omen and the young girl's fortunes soon change for the worst. When her father dies suddenly, she and her mother are forced to travel to Isfahan to live with her father's half-brother, Gostaham. Arriving in this bustling city, they are no more than peasants and their uncle's wife, Gordiyeh, treats them not much better than servants. The one bright spot in the young girl's life is that Gostaham is a carpet maker for the shah, and she is thrilled to have a mentor to teach her the finer aspects of this art form. Gostaham has never seen a person with her passion, himself excepted. His only regret is that she is not a boy.

Conflicts arise with the young girl, her mother and Gordiyeh, and their future in tenuous. Only a suitable marriage can guarantee their future security. Unfortunately, the only option presented to the young girl has the potential to be lucrative but unsuitable. She and her mother are forced to make a difficult choice.

The Blood of Flowers is a story of love, loss, learning and sacrifice. The young girl often makes rash, immature decisions and takes extreme risks--something unusual in a Muslim girl in 17th Century Persia. Some of these risks pay dividends, while others bring great misery. This book is also a coming of age story as the young girl moves to womanhood and especially, discovers the pleasures of the flesh.

Amirrezvani wants her readers to see the true beauty of Iran. She paints a vivid picture of the beautiful Isfahan with her river, her bridges, her mosques, her gardens, her bazaar and her hammams. She also details the food, dress and customs of the day. But the author saves her most descriptive writing for the carpets! She provides a fascinating look at how the carpets are planned, sketched out, how the wools and silks are selected, how they're knotted, etc. They're not just floor coverings, but wall hangings, furniture and most of all, works of art.

A carpet is put together knot by knot and row by row to create a true treasure. Amirrezvani has also created a true Persian treasure, word by word, line by line and story by story.

31 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Every thread in a carpet had been dipped in the blood of flowers.", June 5, 2007

By	Luan Gaines "luansos" (Dana Point, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Set in 17th century Persia, it is significant that the protagonist in this thought-provoking novel remains unnamed, indeed a hostage to her fate. Although her family is not wealthy, the girl is valued beyond measure by her family, an only child. Suddenly an inauspicious comet sends the village into paroxysms of dread as the mullah announces potential lapses in moral behavior: "On the topic of marriages, those contracted later this year will be full of passion and strife." Of marriageable age at fourteen, the girl is anxious about her future, eventually soothed by her father's promises. But the happy family is sundered by the unexpected death of the father, widow and child barely eking out sustenance in the village until they are accepted into the household of Gostaham, their only living relative in Isfahan.

Gostaham is a master of the ancient art of carpet making, one of a skilled few favored by the shah. Gostaham has made a fortune with his extraordinary designs and myriad colors, delighted to find that his new young charge is adept at the art of carpet making as well. He explains the philosophy of artisans such as himself: "our response to cruelty, suffering and sorrow is to remind the world of the face of beauty." Although mother and daughter are subject to the harsh restrictions of Gostaham's wife's household demands, the man agrees to train the girl. Watching his student bloom under his tutelage, the master is thrilled, wishing she were a male to carry on his line. Although she acquires one close friend, the beautiful Naheed, the girl is consumed by a love of her art, an avid student, soaking up instruction like a thirsty sponge, eager for more. Her work is indeed valuable and gratifying.

With no prospects and no dowry, the girl's only value is her virtue. Unlikely to make a propitious marriage, she accepts the advice of her relatives and accepts a sigheh, a three month marriage contract with a wealthy man. She learns the pleasures and pitfalls of such a union at the cost of a lifetime commitment and a dear friendship. With no financial independence, she is at the mercy of a society that views her as insignificant, her gender a hindrance in her chosen field. Cast into abject poverty, the young woman takes hold of her future, pursuing a life of creativity, honing the skills Gostaham has nurtured. At a crossroads between despair and hope, she finds the strength to deny the expected in favor of possibility. In a haunting tale, woven through with ancient fables, a young girl of no value carves a place in an indifferent world, invisible in her womanhood, but magnificent in her courage, rising above her circumstances to fulfill her destiny. Luan Gaines/2007.

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Elegant as a Silk Tabriz Carpet, July 18, 2007

By	Kevin Joseph (McLean, VA United States) - See all my reviews

Set in seventeenth-century Persia and narrated by an eighteen-year-old girl, "Blood of Flowers" would appear to have all the earmarks of a slow-moving period piece geared for an audience of women. Not so. This first novel turns out to be a work of art, every bit as dazzling as the Persian rugs designed and knotted by its unnamed heroine.

The story begins with the appearance of an ominous comet in the skies, portending a year of ill fortune for our narrator, who is due to be married in the coming months. Sure enough, her father suddenly dies, leaving the girl and her mother without the dowry required to attract a worthy suitor. Facing poverty, mother and daughter take up residence as servants in the household of an uncle who makes Persian rugs on commission for wealthy patrons.

A self-taught village rug-maker herself, the girl wins her uncle's confidence, becoming an apprentice of sorts and learning the intricacies required to fashion city carpets of the highest quality. But when she's forced to accept a three-month marriage contract to a wealthy horse trader, whose interest is hedonistic and short-term, the girl is caught in an untenable situation in which her family's financial security and her self-respect come into violent conflict. As she matures from a headstrong young girl to a pragmatic woman with a feminist bent, our heroine struggles to defy the odds and forge a future for herself and her mother in this male-dominated society.

It's a tribute to the author's methodical research, rich descriptive detail and knack for the cadence of good storytelling that this reader found himself completely transported into the novel's exotic world. Like the rugs for which Persia is famous, the structure of "Blood of Flowers" brings together its motifs in a simple but timelessly-elegant manner. If you enjoy novels like the "Kite Runner," you'll love this book.