Rug Merchant

At the heart of Meg Mullins?s debut novel is one of the most touchingly believable characters in recent fiction, a gentle soul in the body of an Iranian exile in New York. Ushman Khan sells exquisite hand-woven rugs to a wealthy clientele that he treats with perfect rectitude. He is lonely, and his loneliness becomes unbearable when he learns that his wife in Iran is leaving him. But when a young woman named Stella comes into his store, what ensues is a love story that is all the more moving because its protagonists understand tragedy. The Rug Merchant will sweep readers away with its inspiring, character-rich tale about shaking free from disappointment and finding connection and acceptance in whatever form they appear.

A powerful experience that does what all good literature should: it tells us a little more about what it means to be human. (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

Beautifully written and at times hilariously funny . . . an enduring and poignant portrait. (The Baltimore Sun)

[Mullins] has imagined a tale as nuanced and alluring as the hand-woven patterns of the rugs that are at the heart of UshmanÆs American life. (Chicago Tribune)