The Blood of Flowers

Apr 10, 2011 Nile daughter rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Nile daughter by: Huda

Shelves: favorites, iran

This is my second novel about Iran , the first was (Samarkand) , both are historical , but while (Samarkand ) took political & ideological path , this one dealt with one of the Persian art formats and the cultural and social conditions that surrounded its uniqueness and perfection .and in the same time with a feminine feelings and sprit ..

In few words : (the blood of flowers) is the complicated and passionate journey of a fiery ... talented female carpet designer towards maturity and profes...more This is my second novel about Iran , the first was (Samarkand) , both are historical , but while (Samarkand ) took political & ideological path , this one dealt with one of the Persian art formats and the cultural and social conditions that surrounded its uniqueness and perfection .and in the same time with a feminine feelings and sprit ..

In few words : (the blood of flowers) is the complicated and passionate journey of a fiery ... talented female carpet designer towards maturity and professionalism . When I talk about it ; I need three different axes :

- The rug craft :
The details caught by artistic bright eyes; that became mine ! the verbal camera that caught nature beauty and urban distinguish , the concepts .. life's hardness transformations into touchable and live pieces of art , all of this were amazingly handled .
true you will never look at a Persian carpet with the same eyes after reading this book !

- The heroine's life :
it presented a full detailed of the social and cultural Iranian life in the seventieth century , specially some the Shia's traditions and ceremonies , focusing mainly on females' position . it was my first time to read in details about (Sigheh) or what we know in Arabic as (pleasure marriage and it is forbidden for sunni so I do not know much about, also I am not sure if all Shia approve it), this marriage is nothing but a sexual relationship, where a woman is a trapped in weird position among : wife ..mistress and prostitute ! trying to hold on to a man that she will never really possess and a dignity that she may never restore ! this part was portrayed in a very touching way , even the direct graphical sexual descriptions (which were more than what I expected) functioned with the nature of the heroine's miserable situation . and through this axis it is the author's target discussing feminism ..freedom and independency , the concept here was very strong presented and may be that what made the ending - somehow- left open.

- the folk or fairy tales :
Each chapter ended with a one , trying to tie the characters' lives & destines to heritage and Persian historical magical context , some were regionally rooted like (Haroot and Maroot) , some historically like (Laila's mad) , and some legendry , they fit in some parts and did not in others , but in general it was a clever enhancing method for the environment the author tried to materialize ..

A final quote that presented the title (by the heroine) :

(I thought about all the labor and suffering that were hidden beneath a carpet , starting with the materials . vast fields of flowers had to be murdered for their dye , innocent worms boiled alive for their silk - and what about the knitters ? must we sacrifice ourselves for the sake of rugs ?)

This novel is from the kind that I could not put down until finishing it ...
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Sep 14, 2011 Jeanette rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: all-fiction, historical-fiction, middle-east

3 1/2 stars

This story takes place in the 1620s in Isfahan, Persia (Iran). After her father's death, a teenage girl (never named) and her mother travel from their small village to Isfahan to live with a relative. They are mostly treated like household slaves/servants, but the girl manages to gain skills in rug design from her uncle, a prominent rugmaker.

I liked the story, but far too much of the book was taken up with the narrator's sigheh (a temporary, renewable "marriage" which is essentially...more

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Aug 20, 2008 Lisa Vegan rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone who enjoys novels, historical fiction novels

Shelves: fiction, bookclub, gr-author, reviewed, novel, historical-fiction, altta

I will never again look at Persian/Iranian carpets in the same way. This book makes me want to view many examples of such carpets so that I can now fully appreciate their artistry.

This is a finely crafted first novel and I really hope that this author writes more novels. I love her writing style and storytelling.

I was completely immersed in the story, characters, and the time & place of this book. I loved the stories within the story, the depiction of a particular woman’s life and a look int...more

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Aug 29, 2007 Jen rated it 2 of 5 stars

The story was interesting, but I was disappointed overall. I had high expectations of language and wordplay, and it really felt like a highly-sexed YA style--little sophistication. The protagonist annoyed the crap out of me, and thus made it hard for me to feel any sympathy for her plight. The information about the making of rugs was great, though, and reading about the colors and knots almost makes this a three starred books. My favorite parts of the books were the fairy tales interjected, and...more

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Jun 10, 2011 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars

This novel provides a fascinating look into the culture of 17th century Persia, especially from the perspective of women of all social classes. Particularly fascinating was the detailed look at the art of rugmaking and the traditional folk stories told by the narrator and the narrator's mother. I also liked that the narrator was headstrong and willful, but in a realistic way that often ended in tragedy for her. Such a narrator made the story accessible for both a modern and a Western audience as...more

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Sep 22, 2008 Bobby rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed

Set in 17th-century Isfahan, Persia (Iran), Anita Amirrezvani's first book is a tale of a young woman (with her mother playing a smaller role) who has to learn how to financially and emotionally survive after the sudden loss of her father. With the help of a family friend and innate talent and passion, she seizes upon rug making as her ticket out of poverty. As her skill as a rug maker grows, so does her understanding of who she is herself--as a grown woman, daughter, friend, lover, artist. With...more

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Oct 29, 2010 Ubaidah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, historical-fiction, indo-persian

It is a very hypnotic tale. I was really absorbed into the story-line and I felt I had time-traveled to the 17th-century Persian myself. I really adore the courage of the unnamed main character who still manage to move on after each of the misfortunes that had befallen her. This story also shows how a girl matures into a women and how her dreams evolve with time. I also got the inside into the culture of Shia muslim, which I had never know. I love how the narrator is so passionate about carpet m...more

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Mar 30, 2008 Staci rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historicalfictionread

I listened to the audio verion of this book & can't believe I finished it in two days. I was browsing around my library's audio book website & came across this one. Sounded interesting. It takes place in 17th century Persia, told from the point of view of a 14 year old girl who has lost her father, so she & her mother must move to the big city to live with relatives. I really enjoyed this story. I don't know anything about this area of the world during this time period & found th...more

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Feb 14, 2013 Jo Ann ❤ rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: book-a-fort-2013, historical-fiction, middle-east, around-the-world-2013, audio-books, grease-soundtrack-challenge-2013

I believe this maybe the first novel I've ever read where the protagonist is not given a name, at the end of the audio book was an interview with the author and she explains why she did it and I totally agree with her reasoning.

Our story follows a young girl born in 17th century Persia (Iran) who's father has died. Broke and penniless, her and her mother are forced to move in with relatives to survive. Longing to escape her world of poverty she cultivates her gift of Persian Carpet weaving in ho...more

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Feb 27, 2012 Corey rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: audiobooks

Nothing really to add on to my updates during the course of reading… this was my first audiobook ever. It really helped me pass my bus rides to and from work. At first I was unsure what to do with my hands and my eyes while I was being read to on the bus. I tried not to accidentally zone out while staring directly at someone sitting opposite me because that would have been embarrassing… especially during the gratuitous sex scenes of which there were uncomfortably many. Then, I guess I got the ha...more Nothing really to add on to my updates during the course of reading… this was my first audiobook ever. It really helped me pass my bus rides to and from work. At first I was unsure what to do with my hands and my eyes while I was being read to on the bus. I tried not to accidentally zone out while staring directly at someone sitting opposite me because that would have been embarrassing… especially during the gratuitous sex scenes of which there were uncomfortably many. Then, I guess I got the hang of it. I was quite surprised at my ability to multitask – listen to the book and worry about all sorts of things at the same time. This is good to know and I will probably continue listening to audiobooks in the future as a result.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, but not emphatically so, for 2 reasons: (1) It was quintessential literature for women – about women, for women, lots of emotions, daily minutiae and other subjects that women find interesting. I’m a woman so I did find it interesting but I also felt like it was kind of cheap entertainment. The characters were predictable and written as crowd-pleasers (e.g. the main character was a perfect combination of dutiful and rebellious), jaw-clenching tragedies occurred on cue whenever the plot was starting to drag, but nothing too horrible ever happened. (Actually, I had a similar problem with Snow Flower and the Secret Fan but couldn’t quite put my finger on what bothered me about it.) (2) The writing was textbook good writing – as in cover all the bases plus a couple that could probably comfortably remain uncovered. Detailed descriptions abounded. I was easily able to form a mental image of a completely unfamiliar setting. However, I often found myself waiting for the point to roll around. Because the characters and plot were quite predictable, I felt like I was watching an episode of CSI where I’d already guessed who the killer was in the first 5 minutes. I’ll still watch the show for the how and where and why but I got it already… no need to dwell on the smells, the tastes, the exact hues, the minute-by-minute emotional run-downs.
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Jul 10, 2012 Caro rated it 3 of 5 stars

My biggest problem with the book is that it had an incredibly weak ending. The story is more or less a pauper's tale, a young girl's life is filled with lamentable woe and bad luck after bad luck. The main character, an unnamed young girl, has skills as a carpet maker which was the only part of the book I could stand. The details that went into making a carpet were very labor intensive and the only thing of interest.

The main character's plight was more annoying that sympathy inducing. She was ne...more My biggest problem with the book is that it had an incredibly weak ending. The story is more or less a pauper's tale, a young girl's life is filled with lamentable woe and bad luck after bad luck. The main character, an unnamed young girl, has skills as a carpet maker which was the only part of the book I could stand. The details that went into making a carpet were very labor intensive and the only thing of interest.

The main character's plight was more annoying that sympathy inducing. She was nearly the cause of all her own problems and it seemed that she sought to blame everyone around her for her problems. She was incredibly whiny and made incredibly stupid decisions. Honestly, she and her mother should have died in the story if it wasn't for the fact that she had a rich uncle who took her in afterwards.

The last forty pages were an attempt at making the story a happy ending when the author should have ended the reader's misery and either just killed the girl or made her actually earn her own merit, instead of having the uncle save her. By having the uncle save her, it just made it seem like she was a petty child who refused to apologize after her wrongdoings because of her pride. It was like the Graveyard of the Fireflies, where the two children might have been able to survive if he had just kept his mouth shut and stayed with his relatives, no matter how uncomfortable he was.

But no. Instead, we had to deal with some sap story as how the main character, because she's a woman, gains the trust of the shah (the richest and most influential man in the town)'s concubine and then becomes rich and famous.

Ugh.

The story was also punctuated with many short stories and poems of the Arabic tradition. Having taken a class on Bedouin and Arabic poetry, I understand that Arabic literature is often like this, which random poetry interspersed throughout the stories in a kind of frame storytelling style. However, it doesn't work here, no matter how interesting the stories are, they detract from the main plot and I often found myself wanting to skip over them just because they had little to do with the actual plot.

For all its faults, I did enjoy the very detailed insight on how to make a carpet and the Arabic tradition and the way women were treated. The technical details were incredibly fascinatinig and I would have liked to read more on how to hand make carpets. That alone was good enough for me to give this book a three.
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Aug 15, 2010 Nicolette rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

THE BLOOD OF FLOWERS
By Anita Amirrezvani
(Headline Review)

SET in 17th century Iran, this novel is the tale of a young village girl who has her destiny shattered after a comet blazing across the sky is seen as a bad sign.

Her family is about to arrange her marriage but the comet spells disaster. And after the death of her father, her hopes of marriage are dashed.

The nameless heroine and her mother go in search of her uncle, Gostaham, in the city of Isfahan. There, they are taken in as servants by G...more

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May 18, 2009 S rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was given to me to as a present this past Christmas (2008) by a cousin who highly reccommended it and since then, I have had it on my list of books to read. It is a great story, very well written and totally engrossing. Every time I picked it up and opened up its pages, I was immediately transported to the beautiful ancient city of Isfahan in Iran back in the 17th century. Isfahan is a beautiful city steeped in so much history and I was even more taken with the city when I visited it a...more This book was given to me to as a present this past Christmas (2008) by a cousin who highly reccommended it and since then, I have had it on my list of books to read. It is a great story, very well written and totally engrossing. Every time I picked it up and opened up its pages, I was immediately transported to the beautiful ancient city of Isfahan in Iran back in the 17th century. Isfahan is a beautiful city steeped in so much history and I was even more taken with the city when I visited it again as an adult than when I visited as a young girl.

This novel is historical fiction and that is a genre that I have learned to like recently espcially with "The Other Boleyn Girl". Historical fiction is a great way to learn about a time and place that you may not have known much about but to learn details that are entwined in a rich story versus a dry history book.

The story starts in a small village in Iran where the narrotor is a 14 year old girl and only child whose name is never revealed. In this small village, everybody knows each other and the girl is loved and indulged by her parents. Early in the novel, she loses her father and since her mother and her have no income, they are forced to leave the village where they have spent all of their lives and travel to the big city of Isfahan where her father has a half brother which they had met once beffore. At the time of the novel, Isfahan served as the capital of Iran and is where Shah Abbas the King lived in a grand palace right in the middle of the city. The mother and daughter have to beg the mercy of the deceassed father's half brother who is a rich and distinguished man having made his fortune as a carpet designer to the Shah himself. The Uncle eventually teaches the narrator his trade and with that she has some succeses but some failures of epic proportions.
Along the way, you read about the ancient city of Isfahan and the way the author details the smells and scenes are so rich that you walk away with a true sense of how life must have been like in that period where women were hidden away from mens eyes and three month marriage contracts were normal.

The reason the author chose to keep the narrators name out altogether is very interesting. One day, the author was sitting in her living room and was looking around at her Iranian art (hand painted bowls and carpets etc) and she noticed that not one of the pieces had been signed. Persian carpets are almost never signed and are such an incredible work of love and hard work, usually by a team of people that she wanted to honor those nameless artisans who had created such beautiful works of art that we all enjoy.

Very enjoyable and engrossing read!(less)

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Sep 04, 2008 KT rated it 4 of 5 stars

Beautiful. The descriptions of food, clothing, rug-weaving, social customs....all a sumptuous feast. Brings early 17th century Persia to life through the voice of a young girl and her difficult and redemptive journey.

Paired nicely with the August 2008 National Geographic cover story!

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/200...

Note: I wondered throughout why the author chose to use 'Iran' instead of Persia...in addition to geographic variances throughout history, I thought that (in general) 'Iran' i...more

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Aug 20, 2008 Misfit rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: one-time-read-only, everyone-loved-it-but-me

The Blood of Flowers is the story of a young girl (never named) in 17C Persia whose father dies unexpectedly and left destitute. She and her mother are forced to seek shelter from her uncle, a wealthy rug maker in the city of Isfahan. Despite their status in the household as nothing better than servants the girl shows a talent for rug making and design and with no male heir of his own to succeed in his craft her uncle takes the girl under his tutelage. Enough of the reviews recap the story suffi...more

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Jul 26, 2008 Simmonsmry rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone

Recommended to Simmonsmry by: I reviewed this stunning debut novel for BookPleasures.com.

In the blink of an eye, everything can change. One tragic event can send lives spiralling down a staircase full of unknowns.

In her debut novel, Anita Amirrezvani explores this theory through the eyes of a young Iranian woman living in the 17th century. At the age of 14, the unnamed narrator is looking forward to a new chapter in her life. She is expecting to be married before the year is out and her only troubles come from worrying about how her family will raise a sufficient dowry to offer a s...more In the blink of an eye, everything can change. One tragic event can send lives spiralling down a staircase full of unknowns.

In her debut novel, Anita Amirrezvani explores this theory through the eyes of a young Iranian woman living in the 17th century. At the age of 14, the unnamed narrator is looking forward to a new chapter in her life. She is expecting to be married before the year is out and her only troubles come from worrying about how her family will raise a sufficient dowry to offer a suitable man.

Then an unexpected tragedy occurs. Her beloved father dies and she and her mother are left alone with no one to protect and provide for them in their village. When her uncle offers his assistance, they have no alternative but to leave their home and travel to the city of Isfahan - a place so unfamiliar it may as well be in a foreign country.

As the novel unfolds, the young woman begins to take lessons from her uncle on the art of rug-making, but some rash decisions put her in a position where she is forced to consent to a form of short-term marriage known as a sigheh, which threatens to ruin her reputation and her future prospects.

Through all of her struggles, impassioned decisions and bold demonstrations of her independence, the young woman has one constant in her life: the art she is compelled to create. "It was as if I were living within the surface of the carpet myself, surrounded by its soothing colors and its images of eternal tranquility. Lost in its beauties, I forgot the misery around me."

But like everything in life, there are two sides to the beautiful craft. The work is physically intense, causing injury and sometimes permanent damage to the women who sacrifice themselves for the sake of a rug. "All our labours were in service of beauty, but sometimes it seemed as if every thread in a carpet had been dipped in the blood of flowers."

Amirrezvani takes us on an intriguing journey into this young woman's experience. She has created a character who represents the countless female artisans who have practised their craft and received little recognition or compensation for the beauty they have created for others at their own expense and labour.
'The Blood of Flowers' is an intricate design, knotted with detail and precision. Every word has its place in the broader story, creating a piece of art that is beautiful and designed to stand the test of time. Transporting us into a past that reveals elements of the present, this novel will continue to delight and mesmerize readers of the future. (less)

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Nov 06, 2012 Crystal Allen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

This book was beautiful and would make a fabulous book club choice.

This book reminded me a bit of The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracey Chevalier.

Set in Persia, a young girl is left without a dowry when her father dies. The girl and her mother get through the first few months only because the girl has knotted a carpet that her parents had planned to sell to pay for her dowry. Instead that money is used to feed them and pay for their journey from the small village they live in to the city where her...more

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May 24, 2008 Yosafbridg rated it 5 of 5 stars

"First there wasn't and then there was. Before God, no one was."

A much more poetic opening than “Once upon a time…” don’t you think? This is Anita Amirrezvani's rough translation of an Iranian expression that begins each of the traditional Iranian or Islamic stories/folk tales she intersperses throughout her first novel The Blood of Flowers. This beautiful novel is set in seventeenth century Persia (although the narrator often refers to her country as Iran so i suppose it was known by that name...more "First there wasn't and then there was. Before God, no one was."

A much more poetic opening than “Once upon a time…” don’t you think? This is Anita Amirrezvani's rough translation of an Iranian expression that begins each of the traditional Iranian or Islamic stories/folk tales she intersperses throughout her first novel The Blood of Flowers. This beautiful novel is set in seventeenth century Persia (although the narrator often refers to her country as Iran so i suppose it was known by that name even then~but what know i?) in the metropolis of Isfahan, then one of the largest cities in the world.

The novel opens with our young (fourteen-year-old) narrator happily living in her small village with her parents, contemplating a marriage match within the next year. However, misfortune is predicted in the form of a bright comet (its ill-fated portent compounded by the fact that Mars is also inflamed) that passes over the Persian skies, and soon enough her father dies and she and her mother are forced to seek refuge with an unknown paternal half-uncle, Gostaham, in the unknown big city (if her mother had told her, "we'd been sent off to the Christian lands, where barbarian women exposed their bosoms to all eyes, ate the singed flesh of pigs, and bathed only once a year, our destination could not have seemed more remote")
When the narrator and her mother reach Isfahan it is a brand new world, full of riches and wonders, unseen by them before. When they finally arrive at Gostaham's home they are greeted by he and his wife, Gordiyeh, where they are both lodged in a very small room of the grand house, and treated almost as servants. The girl's mother tells her, "we cannot have the same hope we once had," which sets the tone for the rest of the novel.

Gostaham designs carpets for the royal court (as well as accepting private commissions and selling his beautiful rugs in the Image of the World bazaar, our narrator was known as one of the best rug knotters of her villiage and wishes to learn the craft from her uncle. Her learns to admire her dedication, and as he has no sons agrees to take her on as an apprentice, though she can never work as part of the Shah's workshop because she is not male. Her headstrong ways often bring tragedy down on her own head and that of her mother. When the offer of a sigheh, or temporary marriage contract, for three months, comes from a wealthy client of Gostaham's, Gordiyeh encourages her to take the offer to bring more prestige to both her own and Gostaham's family. Through this sigheh the girl learns the womanly art of both taking and giving sexual pleasure and grows in the process. At the end of the novel the girl has become a woman who has learned to make her own way in a man's world (though she may never be able to sign her own name to her works of art, thus the significance of never naming her in the novel).

This is a work of art that is an historical novel but also a timeless tale that offers a window into other worlds that could be our own.
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Sep 15, 2007 Marie Lyn rated it 5 of 5 stars

Having a limited knowledge of this culture, and a huge fascination for it was a delight to read. It was curious to me how the culture embraces, yet keeps its "own" distant simultaniously. We are family; now clean the night pots! That would not be tolerated in a typical American family; but sadly most Americans would not extend the hand out either. Liken to a good movie it left me feeling satisfied, yet yearning. Definatly an easy read, and entertaining if you let yourself get lost in the story....more

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Mar 19, 2012 Susan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: book-club

Honestly, I give this book 2.5 stars. It isn't horrible but it isn't great either. Actually it is a good story told by a decent story teller but maybe a story teller who must refine her craft.

The first 100 pages drag, the middle picks up nicely and the last 100 pages grind to an abrupt halt.

The most interesting player is the bath house attendant Homa.

On the whole this is a story oft told and frankly there are better tellings out there. Had this not been a book club pick, I doubt I would have bo...more

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Feb 12, 2009 Sheri rated it 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book, but I wish I could give it a half a star. I liked it because it is about a country and a history I don't know much about. Set in Iran, 17th century. It was great all the way up to the ending. Don't get me wrong, it was alright. I just wish it would have ended a different way. Maybe it is the American Female in me, wanting everything to end peachy and happy. I don't want to give anything away, but to me it was more abstract. Kind of a "you decide how you think it ends" ending...more

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Jan 16, 2009 Kathleen Hagen added it

Shelves: 2007-audio-books, 2007-general-fiction

Blood in the Flowers,
Anita Amirrezvani
narrated by Shohreh Aghdashloo, produced by Hachette Audio, and downloaded from audible.com.

This is the story of a Persian girl in 17th centuryPersia, now Iran. The story takes us through five years, from the time she is 14 until she is 19. She is a middle-class girl in a village with plans made by her parents for her to marry. But her father dies, leaving her and her mother destitute, and they are forced to move to Isfahan since she now has no dowry. They...more Blood in the Flowers,
Anita Amirrezvani
narrated by Shohreh Aghdashloo, produced by Hachette Audio, and downloaded from audible.com.

This is the story of a Persian girl in 17th centuryPersia, now Iran. The story takes us through five years, from the time she is 14 until she is 19. She is a middle-class girl in a village with plans made by her parents for her to marry. But her father dies, leaving her and her mother destitute, and they are forced to move to Isfahan since she now has no dowry. They get to Isfahan by selling a beautiful carpet that the daughter has made, and they are taken in by her uncle, a wealthy carpet maker who is in charge of the Shah’s carpet shop. Despite the fact that women did not make and sell carpets, her uncle recognizes that she has wonderful skill, better than the men that he knows, so he does train her in the art of creating designs, picking the wools, and weaving them into carpets. This book gives us an amazing look at the world of making those Persian carpets, works of art. But her aunt convinces her uncle that she and her mother are a burden upon them financially, so the uncle arranges a secret “temporary marriage”, meaning that a wealthy man contracts for her every three months, the contract having to be renewed, and with the likelihood that it will be abandoned when he tires of her. After some time, the wealthy man’s father arranges a marriage for him with a wealthy girl from another family, the best friend of our heroine, and when she finds out, the uncle again loses carpet commissions. So the girl and her mother are banished from the uncle’s house. This is the story of what could, and probably did, happen to women in 17th century Persia, most of whom would not have had a craft to fall back on. There is an interview with the author at the end of the book, which is very interesting and explains much about the book. Well written, with beautiful tales woven into the book, most of them from real history, the author says. The narrator appears to be from Iran, at least with the right accents for reading this novel.

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Apr 20, 2013 Steve Lindahl rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Blood of Flowers is a historical novel set in 17th century Iran during the reign of Shah Abbas the Great. It's the story of a young woman who spends her first years in a small village, then, after the death of her father, moves to Isfahan, a large center of commerce. The culture and economy is male dominated, so when the narrator loses her father, she and her mother have to depend on the good will of an uncle, who is a carpet maker for the Shah. (The uncle's wife isn't thrilled with the extr...more The Blood of Flowers is a historical novel set in 17th century Iran during the reign of Shah Abbas the Great. It's the story of a young woman who spends her first years in a small village, then, after the death of her father, moves to Isfahan, a large center of commerce. The culture and economy is male dominated, so when the narrator loses her father, she and her mother have to depend on the good will of an uncle, who is a carpet maker for the Shah. (The uncle's wife isn't thrilled with the extra expenses that come with these two relatives.)

The narrator is also an excellent carpet maker. Perhaps the talent runs in the family, but it still feels like a coincidence that this young woman ends up in a place where she can develop her skills. The book's one weakness is the author's use of coincidences. This is one. There's another later in the book that is critical to the plot.

The culture also has a tradition that seems to benefit the men in this male dominated society. Men, who can have many wives, can also marry some of them for short periods of time. A marriage like this is called a sigheh and can range from months to an hour in length. A sigheh is legal, but doesn't have the status of a full marriage. The roles of the women in these marriages seem to fall somewhere between the position of a permanent wife and a prostitute. The shorter the length of time for a singheh the less status there is. However, there are financial benefits to a sigheh marriage and the children of those marriages are generally acknowledged.

I loved the way this book transported me to a culture that is so different from our modern one. There were so many instances where characters were forced to act or dress (picheh and chador) in ways that seemed unfair, but this was all they knew so the rules didn't bother them. Yet in some ways the narrator overcame gender traditions, specifically when it came to her carpets.

The other part of the book that I found fascinating was the relationship between the narrator and her mother. They always loved each other, but sometimes disappointed each other as well. And often, because of the cultural differences, the one I saw as the guilty party and the one they saw as the guilty party were not the same.

Steve Lindahl – author of Motherless Soul
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Mar 17, 2013 Eddy Allen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arts-and-historical

In 17th-century Persia, a 14-year-old woman believes she will be married within the year. But when her beloved father dies, she and her mother find themselves alone and without a dowry. With nowhere else to go, they are forced to sell the brilliant turquoise rug the young woman has woven to pay for their journey to Isfahan, where they will work as servants for her uncle, a rich rug designer in the court of the legendary Shah Abbas the Great.
Despite her lowly station, the young woman blossoms as...more

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Feb 26, 2013 Sharon rated it 3 of 5 stars

Anita wrote her enchanting story influenced by the traditional Iranian or Islamic folktales that she has interspersed between chapters. That's what makes her book such an endearing read. The book is set in the historical period of the sixteenth century during the reign of Shah Abbas during which he made some great contributions to Iranian cultural life. One of the things he did was vigorously promote carpet making and this is the central focus of this story. A young Persian girl and her mother a...more

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Jan 23, 2013 Sandie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-books, historical-fiction

The Blood of Flowers vividly explores many different relationships in the narrator's life--with her mother, her father, her uncle, her friend, and her husband, to name a few--with each relationship helping the reader to see the different aspects of the narrators personality, motivation and thought processes.

Set in 17th century Persia, the story follows the life of an unnamed young girl whose anticipated path in life is altered following the death of her father. Left without the dowry that would...more

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Nov 20, 2012 Vibina Venugopal rated it 4 of 5 stars

It is a saga of the protagonist whose name remains undisclosed through the end..Her struggle to make a mark in life in spite of the adversities bestowed upon her by fate...Set in during seventeenth century Persia the story swirls around the her life of the narrator who loses her father at the very beginning of the novel...Losing the bread winner of the family, it goes down to the days of inadequacy of even the basic need for life..Thus her mother seeks the help of Gostaham her husband's step bro...more It is a saga of the protagonist whose name remains undisclosed through the end..Her struggle to make a mark in life in spite of the adversities bestowed upon her by fate...Set in during seventeenth century Persia the story swirls around the her life of the narrator who loses her father at the very beginning of the novel...Losing the bread winner of the family, it goes down to the days of inadequacy of even the basic need for life..Thus her mother seeks the help of Gostaham her husband's step brother for help.. Though he takes them home their plight and tale never improves, they work all day like servants and have to deal with Goshtaham's wife who is eccentric....Gostaham is a talented carpet artist who works for Shah..Gostaham discovers the narrator's skill for the work and readily takes her under his wings and trains her well...But then fate plays its nasty games, earning the wrath of her uncle when she ruins an expensive carpet..Her life take a full turn and comes to where she started off all over again with no one to lean on...All she is left with a choice of Sigheh, a contractual marriage which would last for three months with an option of extension if the husbands desires..Her mother also forces her into it so that she would be paid bringing home some money for the household which she could use to buy raw materials for her work...She would be required to visit her husband when he expresses his desire..But the problem with this marriage is that after the period of three months she would be an outcast in the society....Such that she has very less options left at her disposal to get on with life...

Being that said the novel goes beyond the difficulties of the narrator, it explores the art of carpet weaving,the exquisite details of the design and the hard work that goes behind the work, at the same time it also puts forth the life of a girl in a turmoil when she has no father figure in life in a male dominated society..The narrator has great dreams for her future, she aspires to own a company of her own with people working for her...She is a free thinker and a determined lady, even when the future looks and dazzles bleakness...Through the narrator's mother we also get a glimpse of the folklore of Persia through many stories she recounts to her daughter....

All in all it was a very different read for me , had there been more details of the way of life their routine,ritual and everyday practices it would have created a whole lot of different mood for the reader....Though the melancholy is set right from the beginning, I was beyond irritated when she made took idiot steps inviting troubles to herself adding upon the existing ones, yet I liked her along the way as she grows up from a child into a woman wading through difficult water..Her mother though initially was such a sweetheart but her sudden change of colour somehow put me off.. Goshtaham is portrayed as a man of complete calm and love who helps the narrator throughly...Goshtaham's wife adds to the villainy part well...I would recommend this book to historic buffs though I will not promise great reading, but different enough...(less)

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Oct 24, 2012 Prabh rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is definitely one of the best I’ve read and would maybe even re-read sometime. The writing style is amazing for a first novel, and the descriptions are extremely vivid. Each chapter ends with an Iranian folktale/fairytale that in some parts fit in with the story and others don’t, but still enhance the entire storytelling overall. The sexual scenes are erotic without being vulgar. The details about carpet-making get repetitive and dull at times but overall the book’s hard to keep down....more

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Jun 08, 2012 Liz rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Blood of flowers took me into the world of 17th century Isfahan, the story began with a young girl who had what she thought was a secured future ahead of her with a good marriage in front of her planned by her parents who were working hard to make sure that her dowry would be provided for her, however tragedy strikes when her Father develops a sudden illness while working in the fields and despite the family and friend's best efforts, dies thus leaving the girl and her Mother destitute and h...more

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Jun 08, 2012 Kerry rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

This is the first historical novel I've read that's set in Iran -- 17th century Iran, to be precise -- and I enjoyed it immensely. It's a completely new world for me, and Amirrezvani did a superb job of evoking it. I especially appreciate the skill with which she provided rich details about every facet of daily life for her characters without info-dumping; the descriptions of everything from the food to the rugs flowed so naturally and so richly that I felt immersed in her world. Even the rhythm...more

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