It is 17th century Persia, and a young woman living in a small village is leading a happy life with her father and mother knowing she will be married soon. Then tragedy strikes at her father's workplace, and he is killed, and the girl and her mother, penniless, are forced to travel to Isfahan and throw themselves on the mercy of the father's half-brother, who is a rich rug-maker for the Shah. The young girl herself is fascinated by rug-making and convinces her uncle to train her in the art. The girl is very talented, but bad luck and impulsive actions almost destroy everything in her life. A beautifully told story interspersed with fables and a fascinating look at a life where women were totally at the mercy of their male benefactors. ( )

This is a big book which you will fly through because the writing and the story are amazing. A village girl comes of age in 15th century Iran after the death of her father forces she & her mother to move to the capital city to live with a long-lost uncle and his family. The women, and especially the girl, do what they must to survive while striving not to lose their self-respect or hope. A poignant, beautiful book. ( )

A woman and her daughter are made homeless in Persia following the death of a man. An uncle welcomes them to live with them, and they pay for their keep by doing the housekeeping and cooking. The daughter is fascinated by her uncle's carpet weaving business and starts to accompany him to work, to watch him as he designs carpets, and then picks colors for his weavers to turn his designs into luxurious carpets that he sells.

As she grows up, her uncle notices that she has an eye for color and design, and allows her to design her own carpet, and to weave it. He becomes her mentor, much to the anger of his wife, who feels he is favoring her above his own daughters.

She eventually starts her own carpet business, hiring women who have to fend for themselves, or who are being abused by their husbands at home.

This is a great story about a woman who ignores societal dictates and builds a life for herself and helps others in the process. ( )

"The Blood of Flowers" presents us with the story of an unnamed female narrator trying to make her way into adulthood in the Iranian capital of Isfahan in the 1620s. Our protaganist has a gift for designing and making, or "knotting" carpets, and after losing her father at fourteen, she must move from her native village to the home of her uncle in the dazzling capital.

Our heroine suffers at the hands of her family, her friends, and the restrictive mores of the time. Yet she and her mother prevail, as a combination of events makes it possible for her to pursue her vocation to design and make carpets fit for the palace.

I felt as though our protaganist was a real and believable character, with the one objection that she was given a few too many 21st-century traits and ambitions. Characterizations are a strong suit for Ms. Amirrezvani, starting with her heroine. The plot was too contrived in places - never moreso than when her best friend - whom I could barely stomach, and who continued to enjoy our beloved carpet-weaver's devotion after so many cruel betrayals (inexplicable!) - this "friend" winds up marrying the man who had taken the narrator as a concubine. And the outcome held no surprises; it was as predictable as nightfall.

Presumably Ms. Amirrezvani aimed to show Isfahan at its zenith, and it was a good college try on her part. This fiction, though, was just barely polished enough to bring it off. ( )

Wow. What the other reviewers have said.

Now I want a hand-knotted carpet really, really bad.