The Forty Rules of Love

DETAILS : 

• Author : Elif Shafak
  
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd.
  
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ 1 January 2015
  
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
  
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
  
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0241972930 
  
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0241972939
  
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 300 g

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Forty Rules of Love is a lyrical, genre-defying novel that weaves together two parallel narratives across seven centuries. It is a profound exploration of love, spirituality, and the transformative power of the heart, centered on the life-changing encounter between the 13th-century poet Jalaluddin Rumi and the wandering dervish Shams of Tabriz.

The story follows two distinct timelines:

• The Modern Narrative: Ella Rubenstein, a dissatisfied housewife and mother in Massachusetts, takes a job as a reader for a literary agency. She begins reading a manuscript titled Sweet Blasphemy, a novel about Rumi and Shams. As she engages with the text and begins an email correspondence with its author, Aziz Zahara, her own stagnant life begins to unravel and transform.
• The Historical Narrative: Set in the 1200s, this thread depicts the journey of Shams of Tabriz—a defiant, mystical soul—as he seeks a companion to whom he can pass on his divine wisdom. He finds this partner in Rumi, a respected but "dry" cleric. Their bond turns Rumi into the world’s most celebrated poet of love, but it also invites scandal and tragedy from a society that cannot understand their spiritual intimacy.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Elif Shafak is an award-winning British-Turkish novelist and the most widely read female author in Turkey. Writing in both Turkish and English, she is known for her mastery of "magical realism" blended with deep historical research and social commentary.

Shafak is a vocal activist for women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and freedom of expression. Her work often explores the tensions between East and West, tradition and modernity, and the role of the "other" in society. She has a PhD in political science and has taught at various universities, including Oxford and Yale. The Forty Rules of Love remains her most globally recognized work, translated into dozens of languages and becoming a cornerstone of modern spiritual fiction.