288 pages, 5 7/8x8 5/16"
Hardcover with jacket
ISBN: 0-8109-5481-8
EAN: 9780810954816
US $16.95
November 2006
Availability: In Stock
$16.95
A richly detailed and enchanting novel, set in twentieth-century Iran and celebrating the ancient art of weaving
Anahita, a nomad, learns that her father has promised her hand in marriage to a man she dislikes. Determined to have a say in her own fate, she convinces her father to let her hold a contest in which potential suitors must correctly answer the riddle she has woven into her wedding carpet. A diplomat, a schoolteacher, a shepherd, and a prince compete in Anahita's battle of wits and for the heart of this extraordinary girl.
Meghan Nuttall Sayres explores the art of weaving, the rhythms of nomadic life, and the beauty of the Muslim faith in this fascinating debut novel.
Meghan Nuttall Sayres is author of The Shape of Betts Meadow: A Wetlands Story, a John Burroughs Best Nature Book for 2002, and coauthor of Daughters of the Desert: Tales of Remarkable Women From the Christian, Jewish and Muslim Traditions. Meghan raises sheep, spins and dyes her own yarn with natural dyes, and weaves tapestries. She has traveled in Turkey and Iran where she met with carpet weavers, dye masters, and merchants in bustling bazaars to explore the age-old techniques, symbolism and sufi poetry that infuses tribal rugs of the Middle East. She lives in eastern Washington. Visit her at www.meghannuttallsayres.com.
