In this lyrical exuberant followup to her novel The Bastard of Istanbul acclaimed Turkish author Elif Shafak incarnates Rumis timeless message of love The Forty Rules of Love unfolds two tantalizing parallel narrativesone contemporary and the other set in the thirteenth century when Rumi encountered his spiritual mentor the whirling dervish known as Shams of Tabrizthat together explore the enduring power of Rumis work. Ella Rubenstein is forty years old and unhappily married when she takes a job as a reader for a literary agent. Her first assignment is to read and report on Sweet Blasphemy a novel written by a man named Aziz Zahara. Ella is mesmerized by his tale of Shamss search for Rumi and the dervishs role in transforming the successful but unhappy cleric into a committed mystic passionate poet and advocate of love. She is also taken with Shamss lessons or rules that offer insight into an ancient philosophy based on the unity of all people and religions and the presence of love in each and every one of us. As she reads on she realizes that Rumis story mirrors her own and that Zaharalike Shamshas come to set her free. show more