It's all about love

  4 stars

Elif Shafak is as talented with words as Rumi, the poet of love. Her beautiful, enchanting prose is rich with meaning and generosity of spirit. In The Forty Rules of Love, on the 15th anniversary of its publication, I finally read this wonderful novel. There are two stories running in parallel. In one we have Ella, an unhappy housewife in modern day. In the other we follow the story of thirteenth-century Sufi poet, Rumi, and his spiritual mentor, a wandering Dervish, Shams of Tabriz.

There is so much to unpack in this novel. A better understanding of religion and the similarities between Christianity and Muslim faiths, charity, kindness, humility, human nature, fear, envy and most of all love. As Rumi writes, and our skilled authoress expresses within her text, "Love will find its way through all languages on its own." This is a novel about the power of love to overcome and heal all things. As with all novels I have read by Elif Shafak, the beauty of love and its ability to transform us is the core element of the story. I was touched by Forty Rules and feel lightened by it. Very pleased to have read this at last, it carries messages important for everyone.