Month: September 2020

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The Blood of Flowers, Anita Amirrezvani

Just as when we step into a mosque and its high open dome leads our minds up, up, to greater things, so a great carpet seeks to do the same under the feet. Such a carpet directs us to the magnificence of the infinite, veiled, yet ever near, closer than the pulse of the jugular.

The Blood of Flowers, pg. 359

Are you familiar with the biblical story of Jacob and Esau? It’s found in the Old Testament book of Genesis, chapter 25, verses 29-34. There are twin brothers, Jacob and Esau. Esau was born before Jacob, so as the oldest son he will inherit his father’s right to the priesthood and he’ll be the patriarch of the family after their father dies. Esau is an outdoorsy type of guy, and he comes in from hunting one day to find that his brother Jacob has made a bunch of “pottage,” or soup. He’s been out all day and he’s hungry, so he tells Jacob to serve him some of the soup he made. Jacob tells him he’ll give him some soup only if Esau sells his birthright for it. Esau agrees. He gets some soup and Jacob gets the right to his father’s priesthood. Now, this does not seem like a good look for my guy Jacob. It’s super sneaky, after all. But really, Esau is the jerk here, because he sells his birthright for literally a bowl of beans, and then later he gets mad about it when Jacob claims the birthright. It was his own shortsightedness that causes himself to sell his most precious possession for nothing.

The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani brought this story to mind. The protagonist is an unnamed teenage girl in 16th century Persia. Her loving parents have raised her to expect marriage to a man who will “pave [her] path with rose petals,” (11). But when her father dies unexpectedly, she and her mother are left destitute, and they leave their small village to seek refuge with her father’s half-brother is Isfahan. Her uncle is a renowned, well-to-do carpet designer. The girl is a fledgling carpet designer herself, and her uncle, recognizing her potential, takes her under his wing and instructs her on how to improve her designs and select just the right colors. Her aunt, however, sees her and her mother as a drain on the family’s resources.

When a wealthy man proposes marriage to the girl, they are ecstatic. That is, until they learn that he is proposing a sigheh. This was an interesting piece of Persian culture to learn about. A sigheh is a temporary marriage. In the girl’s case, she would be married to the man for three months, with an option to renew for another three months if he was pleased with her. Additionally, he would pay her family, as opposed to requiring a dowry from them. If this sounds like legalized prostitution…it kind of is. From my research, at that time a sigheh could be made for almost any length of time, even for just an hour. It was legal, but definitely not looked upon as a marriage of equal value and honor as a permanent marriage.

Her aunt encourages her to accept the proposal, but the girl is hesitant. To her mother, she says, “It feels as if he wants to buy me cheaply…You and my Baba raised me to expect better,” (123). But her mother insists that they need the money, and orders her to marry him. Like Esau, the girl’s family sells her for the equivalent of a mess of pottage.

Despite her marriage, the girl continues to create carpets and learn under her uncle’s tutelage. As her skills grow, so does her confidence, and eventually she realizes just how unjust her family has been to her. “…I have skills enough to join the royal workshop, if only I had been a boy. But rather than let me ply my craft and find a virtuous marriage, you sold me for next to nothing,” (278). She takes steps to reclaim her dignity, but in doing so she angers her aunt and uncle and finds herself struggling for survival.

I wanted to cheer as the girl began to value herself highly enough to take risks and take charge of her own life. This is a story of hope, of finding your voice, and of deciding what you really want out of life. This unnamed protagonist teaches us that we don’t have to accept other people’s assessment of our value. We need to know our own worth, and not allow fear to convince us to sell ourselves cheaply.

Happy Reading!

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Popular Books You May Have Missed But Should Definitely Read

If you’re like me, your To Read list has become so long as to be completely unmanageable. I’ve always got my ear to the ground on the lookout for a good book, but it’s impossible to to read all of those books I see on the bestseller lists. If I do ever get to them, it’s like five years after everyone else has already read them. The Girl on the Train? Still haven’t read it. When Breath Becomes Air? Nope. I have every intention of reading these books, but it’s a Sisyphean task. There’s always another book that I feel like I should have already read.

That said, there are a few books that I’ve gotten to in a (relatively) timely manner, and if you haven’t read them yet, you should move them to the top of your To Read list. ASAP. When I want to recommend a general fiction book, these are the five I find myself recommending again and again.

  1. A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry

I first read A Fine Balance in high school as part of my AP English Literature class. We had a list of several books to choose from, and I pretty randomly chose this one. It’s been well over a decade since I first picked this up, but it has left an impression on me that few novels have.

A Fine Balance is a tremendous achievement in literature. It follows the stories of four people in India in 1975: Dina, a widow struggling to get by; Ishvar and Omprakash, an uncle and nephew duo who rose above their low caste to work as tailors; and Maneck, a college student who finds the idyllic world of his childhood disappearing. Fate brings these four people come together and they form a kind of family as the forces of greed, hate, and corruption work to tear them apart.

I will tell you that this book isn’t a light read. There some pretty heavy themes, vivid depictions of life in the slums, and some strong language. However, if you’re looking for a book that will make you love literature again, this is that book.

2. A Gentleman in Moscow, Amore Towles

When I first heard the premise of this book, I was skeptical. The entire plot of A Gentleman in Moscow takes place within the confines of one building. The main character, Alexander Rostov, is a Russian aristocrat sentenced by the new Soviet government to spend the rest of his life in the Metropol Hotel. If he steps foot outside the hotel, he will be shot. I had doubts that the author would be able to pull this off, and yet within the confines of the hotel, Amor Towles was able to build a full life for his protagonist. It was masterfully done.

What impressed me most was how Towles managed to bring the experience of Soviet Russia into the Metropol Hotel so Rostov, who never leaves the hotel, still feels the weight of what is happening to his country. Towles brings in several characters who give Rostov insight into the changing world outside, and it’s the relationships between these people that truly drive the story. It’s incredible writing, and if you pass on this one, I’m telling you that you’ll be missing out.

3. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Gail Honeyman

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine first seems like simply a quirky book about a quirky woman, but by the end you’ll find yourself reveling in the depth of the character development Gail Honeyman was able to create. Eleanor is such a well-rounded character. She is strong. She managed to survive some really traumatic things in her past, and in the beginning she has herself, and you, believing that she really is, on the whole, completely fine. Her weakness is that she wrapped herself in a blanket of isolation, thinking this would protect her from pain. It did the exact opposite. I think this independent loner character type is often glamorized in literature, but EOICF shows us that people are stronger when they have fulfilling and reciprocal relationships. People need people.

There are themes of abuse, mental illness, and neurodiversity, along with the importance of relationships. It’s deceptively heavy stuff in spite of the fact that you’ll also laugh out loud at some of Eleanor’s antics, and Honeyman is able to balance it perfectly. People have been talking about this one since it came out in 2017, so it’s probably on your To Read list. Bump it up on the list.

4. A Man Called Ove, Fredrik Backman

Okay, first let me put you out of your misery. The name is pronounced “Oo-veh.” It’s not “Ovie” and it’s not “Oh-vay.” It’s a pet peeve of mine and if you’re going to read this book, then gosh darn it you’re going to pronounce the man’s name correctly.

This book is relatable on so many levels, first of all because we all know Ove. I can guarantee that you’ve met Ove at some point in your life. He’s the crotchety older man who starts sentences with “Kids today….” and will argue with a sales clerk over minutiae. He’s got weird feuds with his neighbors that go back years. He can fix your air conditioner and thinks you’re an idiot if you can’t too, but also has zero idea how to turn on his computer. You know him, right? I know you do, and unless he’s your grandpa or something, you probably can’t stand him. A Man Called Ove humanizes him and gives him a backstory. It also challenges him and changes him, and is just generally one of the most heartwarming things I’ve read in a long time.

5. The Language of Flowers, Vanessa Diffenbaugh

I know two other people who have read The Language of Flowers. One of them loved it, as I did. The other one was so stressed out by it that she was unable to enjoy it and we still argue about this book to this day. You know who you are.

Let me tell you why I love The Language of Flowers. First of all, you get to learn about Victorian flower language, which is fascinating. I think we all know things like “red roses mean romance,” but truly the language of flowers was a language. (Okay, maybe not in the strictest linguistic sense, but the point is that it’s much more complex than “red rose = I love you.”)

We meet the main character, Victoria, as she ages out of the foster care system and has to strike out in the world on her own. She…struggles (hence my friend’s stress). But we get to watch her learn to trust herself and others. We see her find her confidence and her competence. We find out about the heartbreak that she’s caused and endured, and we see her learn to forgive and be forgiven. It’s a beautiful story, and if it sounds at all appealing to you, you should grab it from your local library. Then let me know what you think of it, since this is one of the more controversial books on my list (at least in terms of my own social circle).

If you’re looking for something to read, I hope you’ll give one of these a shot. And if you do, let me know what you thought about it!

Happy Reading!

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The Forbidden Wish, Jessica Khoury

“Give me thy hand,” said the Queen, “and let us be friends. For does not the poet say, one true-hearted friend is worth ten thousand camels laden with gold?”

This the Jinni pondered, before replying, “The poet also says, woe to the man who befriends the jinn, for he shakes hands with death.”

The Forbidden Wish (pg. 12)

While modern English has only one word for love, the ancient Greeks had several. Eros is the kind of romantic, heady, passionate love that we tend to find in YA romance novels. It’s the kind of love that is intoxicating and often dangerous. Of course, we all need a dash of eros in our lives. What’s life without a little romance? But there’s another kind of love. Philia. Philia is platonic love. Fraternal love. It’s the kind of love you feel for your closest friends. It’s the love that turns strangers into family. And though The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury certainly has its share of eros, I believe that the core of this book is philia. At its heart, this is a book about friendship.

The Forbidden Wish turns the story of Aladdin on its head. It transforms the princess into a cloak-and-dagger freedom fighter. Aladdin remains the lovable thief of the Disney film, but he has a vengeful streak that I thought really rounded him out as a character. The jinni, a girl in this version of the story, is an embittered creature of smoke and flame nursing 4,000 years’ worth of pain and regret. Zahra, whose jinn name is Curl-of-the-Tiger’s-Tail, Smoke-on-the-Wind, Girl-Who-Gives-the-Stars-Away (isn’t that just lovely?), winds up bound to Aladdin when he takes possession of her lamp, and she helps him become a prince in an effort to avenge his parents. Throughout their time together, the two form a deep friendship that turns into something more. But, though Aladdin and Zahra’s romance is pivotal to the story, Zahra’s friendships with other women in the story are just as important.

When Aladdin first meets Zahra, he quickly learns that she is known in the annals of history as the Fair Betrayer, a jinni who double-crossed a mighty queen and brought about the ruin of an entire civilization. We find out, of course, that there’s more to the story, but Zahra was involved in the death of her dearest friend, and the pain and joy of that friendship are as central to Zahra’s character as her status as a jinni. It is the love she bore Roshana, the queen, that makes Zahra wary of becoming attached to Aladdin. She has hurt a human she loved before, and she lives in fear of destroying another. It was a nice departure from the tired YA trope of a young woman who doesn’t believe in love because she doesn’t have time for it or doesn’t think it’s important. How many YA protagonists have we read who are “different from other girls” because they think romance is stupid? That isn’t Zahra. She believes in the power of love and she is terrified of that power. In her 4,000 years of experience, love has only ever resulted in destruction.

The other beautiful example of philia is the love between the princess, Caspida, and her “Watchmaidens.” They’re a group of young women who serve a dual purpose as her handmaidens and bodyguards. They fight fiercely and they love fiercely. The bone-deep friendship they show for one another, and for the princess, struck me as the kind of thing I wish I could see more of in literature, especially YA literature. There’s no competition among these friends. They don’t begrudge Caspida her role as princess, nor do they jockey for position at her side. These are friends that have lived their whole lives together and, if they die, they will die together. The author makes it clear that their trust in one another is absolute. In media, female friendship is often portrayed with a healthy dose of gossip and backstabbing. In The Forbidden Wish, every example of female friendship is pure and unadulterated. It was a joy to see.

In the end, Zahra is able to triumph, and she gains the strength to do so through love for Aladdin and love for her friends. Having once failed her dearest friend, Roshana, she finds the power within herself now to save herself and everyone she cares about. The friendship she lost, once the source of so much bitterness, becomes the catalyst for her to make different choices this time around.

I enjoyed this refreshing take on the Aladdin story. There’s a lot more to it than what I’ve talked about here. There’s political intrigue, magic, terrific world building, and adventure. But most of all, there’s philia.

Happy Reading!