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The Blood of Flowers | 
| Author: Anita Amirrezvani
Publisher: Headline Review
Category: Book
Buy Used: $89.56
Avg. Customer Rating:  42 reviews
Sales Rank: 1166924
Format: Import
Media: Paperback
Pages: 464
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 4.4 x 1.2
ISBN: 0755341422
EAN: 9780755341429
ASIN: 0755341422
Publication Date: April 3, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Excellent customer service. Order inquiries handled promptly.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 37 more reviews...
 Good, but not a great read July 6, 2008
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 sufficiently that I don't need to rehash it again, but suffice it to say that a series of bad choices made by the girl lead her and her mother into extreme poverty and to the brink of making the most difficult choice of all.
Apparently the author spent nine years researching and writing this book and those details do show throughout the book, and it's always nice to get an inside look at a lesser known country and it's culture and customs, and most especially the art of rug-making. I really did enjoy this book and had a hard time putting it down whilst reading it, but I have the same issues the other three star reviewers had. The ending was too rushed; another 50-100 pages carrying it to a more successful conclusion would have really rounded it out much better. I also didn't care for the little "short stories" that the author inserted to shed additional light on her story. Frankly, I ended up skipping them and I don't feel I missed anything in doing so. And last, but not least, the behavior of the main character and the selfish choices she made really didn't endear her to me, nor did any other character in the book - I just flat out didn't like anyone but the mother. I'm glad I read it, but it's not a book and characters that are going to stick with me long after I've finished it. Three stars.
 Beautifully written June 27, 2008
Great tale that weaves rug making history with fiction. It is a "knotted" story of family, honesty, work ethics and friendship.
Can't wait for her next book.
Ending a problem May 29, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
The writing is quite good in this debut, tho the story didn't really capture me until a twist at about page 100 that had me glued to the book for the next few hours. Well done look at life in Persia in the 17th century. I did however have some trouble with the choices this young girl makes on her own (I don't think she would have) and the choices the uncle made to please his wife (this strong character would not have been browbeaten by a women in that time and place). But what bothered me most was the ending. I don't like story endings tied up in a ribbon, but I expect them to be a bit less nebulous with this one. I think the author didn't know how to end the book.
That being said, it was a good read and I'd recommend it.
Lyrical and inspiring March 20, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I won't go into a plot synopsis for this book because those can be found from the publisher and several of the readers' many reviews. What I would like to convey is an urge for someone contemplating this book to do so. I found it to be captivating, inspiring, informative and written with a lyrical beauty too seldom found. I couldn't put this book down and found myself unprecedently dreaming about it when I finally fell asleep, only to awaken with it on my mind again. I also found that it inspired my creative impulses. I am a needlepoint designer and an avid knitter, and I found myself getting up at 4am to sketch and then to stitch! That is not something I can say about most (any?) books I have read.
I have been disappointed so often of late in the books I have read, so it is refreshing to be able to whole-heartedly recommend one! Please give it a try - I think you will enjoy it.
A flying carpet into 17th century Persia March 2, 2008
15 out of 22 found this review helpful
Carpet making. What does it entail? How is the design created? Wool or silk? Which colors? A carpet maker in seventeenth century Persia was an artisan whose name was woven into the carpet only if he worked for the Shah and was a master.
The unnamed narrator of "Blood of Flowers" is a fourteen-year-old girl at the beginning of the novel and a nineteen-year-old master of her own destiny by the end. Yes, this is Persia, land of men who are in control, land of men who have all the rights. But, occasionally, in even such a land comes a woman willing to do what it takes to direct her own life.
This is a novel of unusual techniques that weave carpets, tales, and lives. It took Anita Amirrezvani nine years to tell this tale. An Iranian by birth, an American by citizenship, she traveled with her parents to Iran several times to clarify points in her novel. Plus, her extensive research and scholarly reading infuse this story with additional authenticity.
When the narrator lives with her parents in her idyllic country village, all is well. She even learns carpet weaving and breaks rules to learn secrets from a respected elderly male weaver, like urinating on certain flowers to create an exquisite blue. Then the tail of a comet and subsequent death of her father bring despair to the young fourteen-year-old and her mother. Eventually, they are reduced to seeking safety with distant relatives in Istafan, home of the Shah of Abbas, the ruler.
Treated as servants, the two at least have shelter and food for as long as Gordiyeh, the woman of the house, favors them. The young narrator uses her wits to show Gostaham, her uncle, that she is willing to learn carpet making from every aspect. Because he has no son or no willing daughters and she is talented, he teaches her.
Everything the author learned of medieval Persia is woven into this plot: the sigheh, a three-month concubinage renewable every three months; foods which the narrator and her mother helped prepare daily in the kitchen; clothing descriptions, both daily and special; what happens to people out of favor; sexual customs (somehow I expected Persian women to be like Puritans and not be allowed to fully participate--wrong! Men bored of such women and contracted a new sigheh with another woman); married life, both in high places and low; markets and how they were run; hammans, single-sex massage salons where modesty was not practiced; and most important, every phase of carpet making.
When the narrator is adult enough to refuse renewal of the sigheh against her uncle's will, she and mother are thrown out on the street to live in dire poverty and sickness until the narrator is at the point of prostitution. She finally earns enough to turn around the tail of that comet.
The Shah of Abbas was a strong ruler of Persia from 1571 to 1629. One of the building blocks of his reign was to elevate carpet making to a fine art. He established royal carpet shops and even allowed masters to weave separate carpets on their own. The fictional character Gostaham, the uncle, was a carpet maker in one of these shops and thus able to provide the narrator with the best of instruction. Modern experts account the carpets from this period as the finest ever made. Perhaps you understand now why flying carpets figure in so much Arabian literature!
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