The Blood of Flowers — Anita Amirrezvani

IN THE FABLED CITY OF ISFAHAN, in seventeenth-century Persia, a young woman confronts a dismal fate: Her beloved father has died and left her without a dowry. Forced to work as a servant in the home of her uncle, a rich rug designer in the court of the Shah, the young woman blossoms as a brilliant designer of carpets. But while her talent flourishes, her prospects for a happy marriage grow dim, and she finds herself faced with a daunting decision -- to forsake her own dignity or to risk everything in an effort to maintain it.