I had the privilege of living in Iran for five years in the 1970's and I fell in love with the people and the culture. This book was researched for 10 years before it was written and the details are highly accurate but it is much more than that. It is a beautiful loving story which could have only have been written by someone who knows and loves Iran. For this reason the author was invited to present her book at the First International Children's Book Festival in Kerman.
Her work speaks to the qualities we identify as goodness that transcend all cultures and boundaries; it describes what we recognize as the qualities of compassion that we humans share, as well as the generosity, good naturedness and kindness that so predominate the common culture of the Iranian people at a time that a propoganda war has been mounted against Iran in a run up to another possible war.
A book that puts Iranians in such a positive light and speaks of their past struggle for a constitutional monarchy in 1906 to curb the excessive power of tyranical monarchs and empower the elected parliament, their struggle against Tzarist Russian expansionism, their struggle between traditional ways and modern change, between nomadic life style versus settled, their struggle between material and spiritual values, all helps those ignorant of Iran to better understand the Iranian experience and to put a human face on Iran.
Most of all this book makes the characters very believable...the struggles of a young girl against the social pressure to be married off in an arranged political union to someone she cannot love, which would benefit everyone in her tribe except her own chance at happiness, her struggles with the inevitable transition from childhood to adulthood, her first encounters with legitimate feelings of romantic love, her rivalry with her girl cousin, the humorous aspects of human existence, the admirable leadership qualities of her father, his fairness and courage to stand up against corruption, the self sacrificing loyalty of her childhood friend Daryioush, the noble qualities of the prince and the mystery of love at first sight which will always remain a mystery...
In the end this book leaves you with a heart warming glow and it becomes a friend you want to spend time with and not put down until it is read. It is not a Polly Anna fairy tale but rather quite realistic and yet the good guys win and the bad guys are brought to justice in a comic rather than cruel way...and the theme of weaving the carpet from sheep to work of art runs through the whole story, dying it, tying it together and leaving no loose ends until they tie the knot...and by the way, it is a suspenseful tale and full of surprises which will keep you riveted to it until the very end...
I highly recommend this book for the young and the young of heart,
Brian H. Appleton |
Anahita's Woven Riddle Books In Print, Audio Books.