Helpful Score: 9
Normally I pretty much stay with the same authors and read every book that they write hardly ever reading anyone else. The Blood of Flowers was very much worth the time. The book centers around the hardships that a young girl has to endure in 17th century Persia. The only negative thing I have to say about the book is it ends VERY abruptly. The entire book is thoroughly told in detail except for the last quarter where the author seems to kind of rush through the story line. Nevertheless you are still completely into the story and once you get closer to the end you turn the next page thinking the story is going to go on ( at the end of the book there is an interview with the author I didn't know about so I thought the book was about 30 pages longer) and all of a sudden you realize it's the last page. This may be because she plans on writing a sequel to the first. But it is very much worth the time and I would recommend it.
Helpful Score: 8
This is an excellent book. It digs deep into a past culture and the persian rug making industry of that time. It has a rythmn to its writing that sucks you into the fables that are intertwined. You can smell and feel the places the character is going. Nothing really graphic or offensive.
Helpful Score: 3
The title of the book, The Blood of Flowers, is drawn from a poem called "Ode to a Garden Carpet", and carpets are at the center of the novel. The story takes place in Isfahan, Iran about 1620 when Iranian carpets were prized around the world. The story is about a poor country girl who loses her father at a young age and is then forced, with her mother, into a different life than that she had hoped to have.
Helpful Score: 2
A beautiful story about a girl's troubles and triumphs as her circumstances change drastically. I didn't realize what a jem this book would be when I picked it up but I throughly enjoyed it and it was one of those I just couldn't put down. I have recommended to several of my friends.
Helpful Score: 2
This debut novel is beautifully written and offers everything I look for in entertainment reading: a beautifully-crafted story that allows you to immerse yourself with each character, a historic setting that is well research and an overall visual richness. This is a completely enjoyable book. Anita Amirrezvani has done an excellent job. I hope to see more of her work in the future.
Helpful Score: 1
This book was a wonderful surprise. I really enjoyed reading about this time in persian and muslim history. Beautifully written, intresting and believable storyline. Highly recommend.
Helpful Score: 1
Lovely, sensual and thought provoking novel which gives the reader an insight into the lives of women in Iran.
Sensuous and transporting first novel filled with the colors, tastes, and fragrances of life in seventeenth-century Iran. Really engaging and intriguing story of a woman's reality in that period - the good, the bad, and the ugly - with great relevance today. I really enjoyed it.
This novel was well written and had believable characters. I loved this book and couldn't put it down! For those familiar with Persian culture, this book quite accurately shows what life may have been like for the characters. It is not neccessary to be familiar with Persian culture to love this book. This book is the story about the hard life of a poor girl who has to overcome a lot. But with hard work, determination, and talent she gains self respect and admiration from others. I highly recomment this book. PG 13 rating in parts.
Wonderful wonderful book, loved the richness of the history and descriptions in this book. The story was very engaging and explained the role of women and how they are valued.
In 17th century Persia, a family lives in a small town with everyone knowing everyone. The mother had tried for years to conceive and finally got her daughter. It is a poor but happy family. Then tragedy hits and their lives are turned upside down. They must leave their small town and go to the big city. There they are treated as little more than slaves by their family but at least they have food and shelter. The city is a bit of a shock at first but they adjust. The daughter has a wonderful talent for making/knotting rugs. She pours her passion into her rugs, hoping to be able to sell them to obtain a dowry for herself. Not many men would marry her without a dowry. But fate has a way of upsetting one's dreams and she has to learn some hard lessons and fast. Not the ending I expected but even better!
A very interesting and engaging story showing the trials and triumphs of the womens lives in Iran.How they are considered of very little worth and the limited opportunities they are given. Very interesting in the history of tying rugs and how that is a major industry and
I loved this book. The main character's passion and the uncertainty she felt between family obligation and doing what her heart told her. I read the book in two days, I didn't want it to end.
I found this book to be an interesting insight into the life of Persian society in the 17th century. However, at 367 pages it seemed, at times, to be long and repetitious, and rather depressing.
This was a a book I didn't want to put down. It's a "coming of age" story, set in sixteenth/seventeenth century Persia, a time that does not resemble much that young girls and women encounter in their lives today. And yet, life issues such as the desire to love and be loved, the need to belong and for life to have meaning are the same.
From almost the first pages, it was easy to move into the hearts of our main characters and understand what drives them to do what they do..........
We step into the life of a young woman uprooted from her village after the death of her Father. She had never been beyond her village when she and her Mother went to the fabled city, Isfahan, and sought refuge in her Uncle's home. Her Uncle is a well-respected designer of fine rugs for the Shah.
After her Uncle learns of her talent in making rugs, he introduces her to the whole process of the fine art of designing and crafting exquisite rugs. however, life soon changes abruptly and so, the story begins......and it takes many, many twists and turns. I wondered right up until the end, what would happen to our main characters.
The story was so beautifully written. A unexpected bonus was the way the author has her main characters recall and tell beloved folktales at several significant points in the story. Her use of mythology brought a different layer of insight to my understanding of the ways people gained wisdom and understanding in this time period.
From almost the first pages, it was easy to move into the hearts of our main characters and understand what drives them to do what they do..........
We step into the life of a young woman uprooted from her village after the death of her Father. She had never been beyond her village when she and her Mother went to the fabled city, Isfahan, and sought refuge in her Uncle's home. Her Uncle is a well-respected designer of fine rugs for the Shah.
After her Uncle learns of her talent in making rugs, he introduces her to the whole process of the fine art of designing and crafting exquisite rugs. however, life soon changes abruptly and so, the story begins......and it takes many, many twists and turns. I wondered right up until the end, what would happen to our main characters.
The story was so beautifully written. A unexpected bonus was the way the author has her main characters recall and tell beloved folktales at several significant points in the story. Her use of mythology brought a different layer of insight to my understanding of the ways people gained wisdom and understanding in this time period.
Very well written- the story moves right along from the very beginning. All of the characters seem so real-and an amazing story to go along with them. This was a fascinating story about a world and lives we will never fully understand in this country.
I loved this book. It was a fascinating read. The descriptions of how the rugs were made really held my attention. I would definitely recommend taking the time to read this.
