Synopses & Reviews
In this lyrical, exuberant follow-up to her 2007 novel,
The Bastard of Istanbul, acclaimed Turkish author Elif Shafak unfolds two tantalizing parallel narratives — one contemporary and the other set in the thirteenth century, when Rumi encountered his spiritual mentor, the whirling dervish known as Shams of Tabriz — that together incarnate the poet's timeless message of love.
Ella Rubenstein is forty years old and unhappily married when she takes a job as a reader for a literary agent. Her first assignment is to read and report on Sweet Blasphemy, a novel written by a man named Aziz Zahara. Ella is mesmerized by his tale of Shams's search for Rumi and the dervish's role in transforming the successful but unhappy cleric into a committed mystic, passionate poet, and advocate of love. She is also taken with Shams's lessons, or rules, that offer insight into an ancient philosophy based on the unity of all people and religions, and the presence of love in each and every one of us. As she reads on, she realizes that Rumi's story mirrors her own and that Zahara — like Shams — has come to set her free.
Synopsis
In this lyrical, exuberant follow-up to The Bastard of Istanbul, acclaimed Turkish author Shafak unfolds two tantalizing parallel narratives — one contemporary and the other set in the 13th century — that together incarnate the poet Rumi's timeless message of love.
Synopsis
Elif Shafak, the most widely read female writer in Turkey, has earned a growing fan base all over the world with her bestselling The Bastard of Istanbul. In The Forty Rules of Love, her lyrical, imaginative new novel about the famous Sufi mystic Rumi, Shafak effortlessly blends East and West, past and present, to create a dramatic, compelling, and exuberant tale about how love works in the world. Shafak unfolds two parallel narratives-one set in the thirteenth century, when Rumi encountered his spiritual mentor, the wandering dervish known as Shams of Tabriz, and one contemporary, as an unhappy American housewife, inspired by Rumi's message of love, finds the courage to transform her life.
About the Author
Elif Shafak is an award-winning bestselling novelist and the most widely read female writer in Turkey. Her books have been translated into more than twenty languages. Her previous novels include The Bastard of Istanbul, a San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times bestseller, and The Saint of Incipient Insanities. Her op-ed pieces have run in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal, and she has been featured on National Public Radio.