Anita Amirrezvani
Anita Amirrezvani’s The Blood of Flowers is a skillfully crafted coming-of-age story of a young girl in seventeenth-century Persia. To adhere to a feature of traditional folk tales, the girl remains nameless. She lives in a small village with her parents, surrounded by friends and neighbors. Her happy existence comes to a screeching halt at the sudden death of her father, leaving her and her mother destitute. They seek help from their only living relative, her father’s half-brother who lives in the bustling city of Isfahan. They move into his home where both mother and daughter are treated as servants by her uncle’s wife.
Fortunately for the girl, her uncle is an accomplished rug-maker for the Shah. Since she has harbored an enduring passion for designing and making rugs, she becomes her uncle’s assistant, developing her skills, and eventually succeeding in designing and making her own sought-after rugs.
Without a dowry, however, her options as a woman are severely restricted. Pressured by her family, she agrees to a sigheh, a pseudo-marriage renewable every three months. This practice is nothing more than glorified prostitution under the veneer of a temporary marriage. It exploits poor, vulnerable women, denying them the rights of a real marriage, and leaving them completely at the whim of their wealthy benefactor. When the girl refuses to renew the sigheh contract, she and her mother are thrown out into the streets to fend for themselves. Destitute, the girl is forced to beg. Eventually she is able to her expertise in rug-making to lift them out of poverty.
Amirrezvani has produced a gripping tale that transports the reader to seventeenth-century Persia. She spent several years researching material for the novel and succeeds in vividly evoking the fabric of life in Isfahan—the bazaars, the sights, the sounds, the smells, the food, the clothing, the colors, the gender stratification and exploitation of women. She peppers her narrative with short folk tales, some of which are traditional and some of which she fabricates.
A major strength of the novel lies in the detailed description of the process of rug-making. The vibrant colors and dyes; the intricate detail of each design; the work of translating the design on paper into a rug; the painstaking work of generating small, tightly bound knots to make the desired images and patterns; and the skilled artistry and craftsmanship involved in each step lead up to a breathtaking finished product that earns enthusiastic accolades from all who see it.
The only criticism of the novel lies in the unnecessarily graphic and lurid details of the sex acts the girl performs with her benefactor to live up to the obligations of the sigheh contract. Although her initial desire to sustain her benefactor’s interest is understandable, the extensive description of her sexual prowess in the bedroom does little to enhance the story. But in an interesting twist, the girl ultimately benefits from her disadvantaged position as a woman in her culture. The circumstances that led her to agree to the sigheh are the very same circumstances that help her transform her life. She capitalizes on being a female to gain access to the Shah’s harem where only women are allowed, using this privileged access to her advantage by befriending the women who then commission her to make their rugs. As a result, she becomes an independent, strong, empowered, and confident business owner who is finally in control of her own destiny.
Its immersive nature in depicting seventeenth century Persia makes this a highly recommended novel for lovers of historical fiction.