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The Blood of Flowers A Novel Anita Amirrezvani 9780316065764 Books

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The Blood of Flowers A Novel Anita Amirrezvani 9780316065764 Books

Information about rugs, carpets and tapestries is easy to find. There are many books, old and new, that provide facts and wonderfully vivid images. What I found harder to find was a readable book of fiction with-rug making as an integral part. Why bother, you ask? Well, I don’t think rugs, carpets and tapestries, like any great art form, can be entirely separated from the culture that produced them without severely limiting their impact on our senses.

Any acceptable history of Persia can tell you that the golden age of Persian Carpets was during the reign of Shah Abbas I (1787-1629). Besides facts, these history books can even display images of some of the magnificent carpets still remaining from that period. The carpets are still beautiful, their colors imbued with the weathered warmth of age. But what these books and their images cannot do is justice to the period itself. That justice, like the carpets themselves, takes an artist. Anita Amirrezvani is such an artist…

Her book, The Blood of Flowers brings life to the Sixteenth Century capital of Persia, Isfahan. It was here and then that Shah Abbas choose to bring together the traditional arts and artisans of Persia to weave the most beautiful carpets ever woven. The story tells of a poor but talented young woman from the provinces who arrives in Isfahan with her ailing mother and is taken under the wing of a distant relative, one of the most able rug makers of the day.

To put it mildly, life in those enlightened times for a young woman was anything but easy. As ever, the poor suffered the most. Marriage was out of the question unless the girl could provide a dowry. A life of servitude with a kind master was the best she could hope for. But as always, some managed to lift themselves out of the mire. Our heroine is one of those; in spite of calamities, setbacks and humiliations galore, she manages to make a meaningful and productive life for herself.

And carpet making is integral to her story. As mentioned earlier, Shah Abbas brought carpet makers and other artisans from across Persia into Isfahan with the intent of producing great carpets for commercial purposes as well as his own pleasure. These artisans from the various carpet making regions brought their traditions with them and it is that combination of traditions and artisans that makes this period so artistically fruitful.

I don’t know if the author of The Blood of Flowers intended that the storyline mirror the Shah’s actions during this period or not, but I’m satisfied that it did. Like the artisans called to Isfahan by Shah Abbas five hundred years ago, this young woman left her small farming village in southwest Persia where she wove carpets based on local themes with homespun materials and took her talent to the cosmopolitan, eclectic center of the Middle-Eastern Art world. It was there in the great city of Isfahan, amidst the competitive commercial workshops and the royal ateliers with their accomplished artisans and gold thread that her own talent found full expression.

I really enjoyed reading The Blood of Flowers. For me the book was more than a book, it was an experience, and I feel like I actually spent time in the carpet workshops and royal ateliers of Sixteenth Century Persia watching the creation of the most wonderful rugs ever woven--a sense you can't get from a history book, no matter how fact-filled.


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The Blood of Flowers A Novel Anita Amirrezvani 9780316065764 Books Reviews

This book is shockingly excellent. I picked it up figuring "it's about rugs, it probably won't be exciting", but once started, I can barely put it down. The descriptions are rich and the city really comes to life with the author's fine phrasing. Even rug-making, something I have zero interest in, was rendered fascinating by the skill of Amirrezvani. The location comes alive as well, transporting you to 17th century Iran quite effectively. I absolutely loved this book and wish I'd read it sooner.

Throughout my reading of this book, I was reminded of The Book on Fire by Keith Miller (without the issues of exoticization that book had). So if you liked that one, perhaps you'll also like this one.

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This wouldn't have been a book that I would have purchased for myself but I was pleasantly surprised with it. I had a lot of ill feelings and thoughts because the synopsis makes it seem like the main character is going to go through hell, and trust me she does, but it is not quite as dire as I first thought and my unease drifted away as I read.

The story is actually a magnificent one, although, maybe a little drawn out at the beginning. But the plot itself is quite interesting as we follow our main character through some rough times and through some bad choices of her own, and some from others. I was quite interested not only in her but also her life. I really liked her and even though the story didn't flow quite effortlessly, my want to know more out weighed the desire to put the book down.

I think the smaller stories in between the plot threw me off quite a bit as well. Although they made me curious, sometimes they didn't seem to have any reason whatsoever for being told in this particular book. By the end some of them made sense while others seemed to just be placed in the story for fluff.

There are some situations where some of the minor characters just make me want to pull my hair out, but they are all very well written. I really enjoyed reading about her uncle the most, although I wish he had a bit more of a backbone but he was a saving grace in her life, for sure!

All in all, especially for being a book I normally would not have picked up, this was a total surprise. I'm really excited that we read this for my book club and I'm sure I will read more from this author.

3.5 / 5
Information about rugs, carpets and tapestries is easy to find. There are many books, old and new, that provide facts and wonderfully vivid images. What I found harder to find was a readable book of fiction with-rug making as an integral part. Why bother, you ask? Well, I don’t think rugs, carpets and tapestries, like any great art form, can be entirely separated from the culture that produced them without severely limiting their impact on our senses.

Any acceptable history of Persia can tell you that the golden age of Persian Carpets was during the reign of Shah Abbas I (1787-1629). Besides facts, these history books can even display images of some of the magnificent carpets still remaining from that period. The carpets are still beautiful, their colors imbued with the weathered warmth of age. But what these books and their images cannot do is justice to the period itself. That justice, like the carpets themselves, takes an artist. Anita Amirrezvani is such an artist…

Her book, The Blood of Flowers brings life to the Sixteenth Century capital of Persia, Isfahan. It was here and then that Shah Abbas choose to bring together the traditional arts and artisans of Persia to weave the most beautiful carpets ever woven. The story tells of a poor but talented young woman from the provinces who arrives in Isfahan with her ailing mother and is taken under the wing of a distant relative, one of the most able rug makers of the day.

To put it mildly, life in those enlightened times for a young woman was anything but easy. As ever, the poor suffered the most. Marriage was out of the question unless the girl could provide a dowry. A life of servitude with a kind master was the best she could hope for. But as always, some managed to lift themselves out of the mire. Our heroine is one of those; in spite of calamities, setbacks and humiliations galore, she manages to make a meaningful and productive life for herself.

And carpet making is integral to her story. As mentioned earlier, Shah Abbas brought carpet makers and other artisans from across Persia into Isfahan with the intent of producing great carpets for commercial purposes as well as his own pleasure. These artisans from the various carpet making regions brought their traditions with them and it is that combination of traditions and artisans that makes this period so artistically fruitful.

I don’t know if the author of The Blood of Flowers intended that the storyline mirror the Shah’s actions during this period or not, but I’m satisfied that it did. Like the artisans called to Isfahan by Shah Abbas five hundred years ago, this young woman left her small farming village in southwest Persia where she wove carpets based on local themes with homespun materials and took her talent to the cosmopolitan, eclectic center of the Middle-Eastern Art world. It was there in the great city of Isfahan, amidst the competitive commercial workshops and the royal ateliers with their accomplished artisans and gold thread that her own talent found full expression.

I really enjoyed reading The Blood of Flowers. For me the book was more than a book, it was an experience, and I feel like I actually spent time in the carpet workshops and royal ateliers of Sixteenth Century Persia watching the creation of the most wonderful rugs ever woven--a sense you can't get from a history book, no matter how fact-filled.