Susan, current proprietress of The Bag Lady, highly recommends this mystical story that brings 13th century figures to life - and shows how human nature hasn't changed in the intervening years.
FORTY RULES OF LOVE - A NOVEL OF RUMI
In this lyrical, exuberant follow-up to her novel, The Bastard of Istanbul, acclaimed Turkish author Elif Shafak unfolds two tantalizing parallel narratives—one contemporary and the other set in the thirteenth century, when Rumi encountered his spiritual mentor, the whirling dervish known as Shams of Tabriz—that together incarnate the poet's timeless message of love.