Middle Eastern historical fiction is still pretty rare in English, which makes it unusual and especially interesting. Its really too bad because there are so many great stories that originated in the Middle East-like the Arabian Nights. I have yet to find a novelized version of the story of Sheherazade in English. But this book came close in a way.
"The Blood of Flowers" is the story of an Iranian girl n the 17th century who has always loved making carpets. She is dismayed when the comet passing in the night skies is read as an unfortunate sign for important events in the coming year, but it reassured by her loving father and mother. But when her father dies she and her mother are forced to move from their mountain village to the great city of Isfahan to live with her uncle-a wealthy royal carpet maker.
Though she makes the very most of having a great carpet maker nearby to teach her, our heroine (who is never named) has somewhat of a rash personality and her actions only make her aunt resent her and her mothers presence more and more-even though they both work like slaves. So when an offer of marriage comes-from a very wealthy man-mother and daughter don't have the finical resources to truly resist.
But it isn't a normal marriage. It's a temporary marriage, contracted to last only three months. The girl would much rather marry someone who wants her enough to marry her forever but her financial situation means she has no choice. The upside is instead of paying a dowry, the girl will be paid, allowing her to pay off debts incurred to her aunt and uncle. To keep the money coming though (and perhaps a more permanent arrangement, or a house) the girl must do everything she can to please her temporary husband.
For reasons she doesn't understand the girl is also to keep the arrangement a secret. But when circumstances change in a way that brings her secret too close to home, our heroine is forced to learn to be an adult, make her own decisions and use the skills of her mind and hands, and the blood of the flowers, to make her future.
This novel is styled so that every chapter is told in first person by the girl and finishes with a Middle Eastern fable, or one in the style that the author made up. Each of the eight tales (one for the prolog, one each for the seven chapters) helps advance the story through the messages of love and forgiveness, cleverness, forbearance and longing. The whole effect is a weaving together of words and ideas to make a wonderful, full and very colorful story.
The concept of the temporary marriage-and Iranian tradition that still exists today is also fascinating. In one way it is abhorrent-a kind of legalized prostitution that ends with a girl no longer possessing her virginity and having limited options for her future, and in another way it allows people who love each other to be together, even if they aren't free to marry formally. I'd never heard of anything like it before and was a little stunned that it exists, especially in a society that bases so much on women's purity.
Overall this is an excellent novel. It is constructed with a kind of care I have rarely seen-making each and every word and action fit with the others. The plot is fascinating, the historical detail amazing and the characters very whole.
Five stars.
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