On My Shelves is a weekly post at The Book Faery Reviews which shares THREE books from our personal collection. These books could be favorites, books to be read as soon as possible for our own enjoyment, as well as books to be read soon for scheduled reviews.
Books let us into their souls and lay open to us the secrets of our own. ~William Hazlitt
The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani - Once there was a girl who could make glorious carpets from wool tinted with the essence of orange safflowers and pomegranates…
In seventeenth century Iran, a spirited village girl of fourteen approaches the age of marriage, only to find her destiny shattered by the ominous prophecies that follow a fiery comet blazing across the desert sky. Confronted with the unexpected death of her beloved father and without prospects for gathering a dowry, the young woman and her distraught mother are forced into a difficult new life in the fabled city of Isfahan. Taken in as house servants by her distant uncle Gostaham, a well-to-do carpet designer, and his demanding wife, the two women confront an unforgiving world where their very survival requires strength and resilience beyond their most dire expectations.
When the heroine blossoms as a brilliant maker of carpets under her uncle’s tutelage, the future brightens with the possibility of affluence and independence, but soon disaster strikes again. An impetuous act of artistic integrity results in the heroine’s disgrace, forcing her into a loveless, secret marriage. Toiling as a carpet designer by day and a reluctant wife by night, she makes an audacious decision that shocks her host family and puts their reputation at stake. With nowhere else to turn, the young woman must marshall all of her artistic genius and her extraordinary will in an attempt to save herself and her mother from a grim and unfulfilling future.
Set in the legendary time of Shah Abbas the Great, the novel captures the bustle of bazaars overflowing with pomegranates, rosewater and saffron; the breathtakingly beautiful silk and gold rugs of the Shah’s carpet workshop; and Isfahan’s incomparable bridges, gardens, teahouses, and hammams. With spellbinding medieval Persian tales and prose that flows like the Zayandeh River through the city of Isfahan, The Blood of Flowers is the story of one woman’s struggle to create a life of her choosing, relying—against all odds—on the strength of her own hands, mind and will. – FROM AUTHOR SITE
The Secret Life of Laszlo, Count Dracula by Roderich Anscombe - Paris, 1866—A young Hungarian medical student with the arresting last name of Dracula arrives at Salpêtrière Hospital to further his education. There, on his first day, he witnesses a young and beautiful patient submit herself to hypnosis. He becomes obsessed with Stacia, and the affair moves from tender passion to a fit of jealous rage, which ends with a shocking moment of communion.
Dracula flees back to Hungary, there assuming his dead brother’s title of “Count.” During the following decades, other young beauties capture the count’s twisted imagination, and he spirals deeper and deeper into the desire for ultimate possession, while ministering to the sick during his daytime existence.
Written as a journal, this erotic and chilling tale reveals Dracula as an educated man with serious moral flaws—unable to escape his fantasies and reconcile his inner dichotomy, that of a doctor who is bound by oath to help and mend, and an unstoppable killer feeding on his victims’ blood. – FROM GOOGLE BOOKS
Hidden Places by Lynn Austen - A deep yearning for home had led Eliza to Wyatt Orchards ten years ago. Now widowed with three young children, she faces mounting debts and the realization it is all up to her. But she has no idea how to run an orchard alone.
When a stranger appears at her doorstep, Eliza guesses he is no different than the other out-of-luck characters searching for work during the Depression. But the familiarity with which Gabe tends to the farm raises unanswered questions. With a vulnerable heart, she is unwittingly drawn to his gentle ways. But Eliza also fears that Gabe hides a past and motives that could jeopardize all she has fought to attain for herself and her children…. – FROM AUTHOR SITE
