The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani

This book was a surprise for me. It is hardback and before I left for vacation I took the jacket off so it wouldn't be ruined. Ok - I always take the jackets off before I read them. Anyway, when I was deciding which book to read next I picked it up and couldn't remember what it was supposed to be about. haha!

This book takes place in 17th century Iran. It revolves around a village girl who looses her father when she is around 14 years old. Her mother and her try to make it as far as they can but soon run out of money. They send word to their only surviving relative and he offers them a place to stay at his house. He lives in a large city and is very successful. Soon they are not hungry anymore but still don't have money of their own and rely on him to support them. His wife is not happy they are their either. The girl is a carpet maker and soon her Uncle, who works for the Shah and is a well-known carpet maker, begins to teach her more about the trade.

Then, the girl catches the eye of a rich man and he offers her a marriage contract, but only for 3 months. Her mother forces her to do it because they need that money. After the 3 months are up he offers another contact for 3 months. Soon, she learns that her best friend, her only friend in this city, is offered a permanent marriage to the same man. The friend doesn't know about the village girls marriage though because it was kept secret.

Will this village girl be able to keep this secret and will she continue to get the 3 month marriage proposals so that her mother and her can survive? while all this is going on, she is still learning more and more about carpet making and is soon able to design her own.

This story captivated me from the very beginning. I actually finished it in one day, although when sitting by a beach and pool - what better thing is there to do that get a tan and read? Actually, I read most of it in bed at night, it kept me up until almost 1pm. Mixed into the chapters are folk tales or fairy tales and I thought those were just as interesting as the story itself.

new author/fiction/368pgs