The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak - Book Review

The funny thing about this book is that it had been on my drawer for quite some time, waiting to be read. In fact, I had actually started to read it a long time ago, but had for some reason stopped almost immediately.

Yet at some point in late July, I picked it up again, and began to take a look. Then, I started to read it once again.

This time, it gripped me in a way that few books really do - and I love books! But this one has more power than most, frankly.

So, this book is really almost like two books at once. One takes place nearly 800 years ago, and in the seemingly far away and exotic Middle East of medieval times. In the other, the drama unfolds right here in the United States. In that one, there is a modern day woman named Ella. a suburban housewife in Massachusetts, who is going through a crisis inwardly, although outwardly, everything still appears completely normal, at least for a while. 

In that other book, the one that Ella is reading, and which transforms her life (and the changes that she is going through parallel those that are happening in this fictional book within this work of fiction - did I confuse you yet?), the events unfold in the mid-13th century, in the ancient city of Konya. This work is called "Sweet Blasphemy," and it is written by one A.Z. Zahara. The author becomes as mysterious and intriguing as the central character of this book, Shams of Tabriz. It should be noted that this book within the book is actually based on real historical events. 

Ella is not a passive reader. In fact, she was looking for some kind of a job, not because she or her family needed the income, but because she needed something to do. Or, perhaps, to feel like she was doing something. She feels that she lucked out in getting this position as a reviewer of books, where she reads unpublished works and then writes reports to people in publishing houses. She has no idea whether "Sweet Blasphemy" will actually be published or not, and she is frank about this with the author when they begin to exchange emails. However, before too long, their interactions are not restricted to mere emails, and they no longer are only vaguely aware of one another, as was the case in the beginning of the book.

Ella finds herself falling in love, as she learns more about the mysterious A.Z. Zahara both through his emails, as well as through the book that he has written, which Ella finds profound and life-changing. In the book, she learns all about Shams of Tabriz, and his unique and truly special relationship with Rumi, before Rumi becomes a noted poet of his age. They bring out the best in one another, focusing on spiritual matter, and advancing the cause of love. Both are transformed, but the transformations in Rumi's life are the ones that the events in "Sweet Blasphemy" center around. The special relationship between Rumi and Shams causes all sorts of friction within Konya, and Shams with his unique style of unflinching honesty, soon makes many enemies. Many people do not understand him, and view him as a corrupting and even evil influence on Rumi.

All of this while back in modern day Massachusetts, Ella finds herself no longer satisfied with the domesticated life that she has known to this point. The book transforms her and parallels the changes going on in her own life, and the center of all of these transformations is none other than the author of "Sweet Blasphemy," A.Z. Zahara. As Ella's husband becomes increasingly suspicious, Ella finds herself thrown into situations both unseen and unknown, and it tears apart the comfortable life that she has always known up to this point.

This is an intriguing book, which really focuses on two separate, yet strangely related stories and s of characters. It is an interesting approach that Shafak takes. Much like Ella is transformed by the fictional "Sweet Blasphemy," this highly spiritual book might get you to reflect like you have never reflected before. If you allow it, it can be a life changing book, filled with wisdom and a kindly guidance. It also reveals another part of the world, and an often misunderstood one, which also means that it serves as a bridge between cultures that often misunderstand and distrust one another. It allows you to see that however different we might seem on the outside, we are bound more by what brings us together, then what tears us apart. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I felt transformed by it, and hopefully, if you give this admittedly different kind of a book a chance, it might do the same for you, as well.