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Recommended Reading: 'The Blood of Flowers'
June 18, 2007
This debut novel from Anita Amirrezvani is simply enchanting: a 14-year-old girl in 17th-century Iran grows up in a poor village as the fastest rug-knotter. When her father dies and she and her mother are forced to seek asylum with wealthy relations in Isfahan, the narrator quickly learns that material riches often go hand-in-hand with poverty of spirit -- and that gender is a cruel sorting mechanism in medieval society.
Interspersed throughout are elaborate folktales that, for me, were almost anti-Scheherazadesque: every time one came up, I would enjoy it, but long to return to the unnamed narrator's "real life" stories. As she convinces her uncle Gostaham to let her learn morea about master carpet-making, her passionate trial-and-error is fascinating (even if, as our PW review of the book indicated, sometimes a too-modern sensibility creeps in to the narrator's thought processes -- however, I tried to keep in mind that she is a country girl facing urban challenges, and that may account for some of Amirrezvani's choices with her).
It's too bad, as my friend C. says, that Little, Brown did not catch the Asian fiction wave and promote this novel more strongly as perfect for people buying the new Khalid Hosseini or the new Lisa See. Of course, it's never easy for debut novels, and I hope this one will pick up some steam over the summer.With its harem moments, kitchen wisdom, and strong-willed protagonist, it's a fantastic and quirkier-than-usual beach read.
Has anyone out there read
The Blood of Flowers? What did you think?
Posted by Bethanne Patrick on June 18, 2007 | Comments (6)
