The Forty Rules of Love

Opening yourself up for spirituality and change is no easy adventure.

Ella is a 40-year old stay at home mom with three kids and a cheating husband. She doesn’t know it yet, but her life will change for the better. She bumps upon a manuscript called ‘*Sweet Blasphemy’* which she is supposed to read and write a rapport on for the publisher and it changes her path through life.

*The Forty Rules* of Love is divided in chapters that entail Ella’s present story (New Hampshire, in 2008) and chapters from ‘*Sweet Blasphemy’* , taking place in 13th century Turkey, which Ella is reading herself.

In the present day we discover that Ella is a woman stuck in her ways and in her life. Her days always look the same, prepare food for the family and mull over worries about her children and husband. She has a very realistic suspicion that her husband is cheating on her, but she doesn’t let him know about her suspicions and stays put in her safe, steady stay-at-home-mom-life. On the other hand, she herself takes the first step to get out of the spiral. She takes on a small reviewing job at a publishing house, which requires her to get some purpose in her daily life. She’s skeptical of the first manuscript at first, but she soon falls in love with the story of *‘Sweet Blasphemy’* and takes interest in the author, who she tumbles in an intimate mail conversation with.

On the other hand, we follow the lives of the protagonists in ‘*Sweet Blasphemy*’, Rumi and Shams of Tabriz. It looks into Sham’s spirituality and how he strives to find his true life’s companion. We follow him on his journey and even read about other characters that he comes in contact with. His and Rumi’s life collide and brings about a ton of criticism. He teaches Rumi the ways of sufi-ism to become a dervish like himself, based on forty rules that give direction to his life. Built on the love in and of itself to reach a higher level of understanding and loving God.

All chapters are short and sweet, while not skipping over details. The writing is clear and concise, with the exemption of the Forty rules themselves, which are written more frivorusly to reflect the writing in religious texts. There is often a switch between the two centuries, but it’s nicely timed, causes cliffhangers in the right moments and is written in a way to bit by bit reveal the overlap in both story lines as it progresses.

It was a true discovery for me to read literary, historical fiction that is set in medieval Turkey and focusses on religion. It was a true delight to learn about the Islamic religion in this way and made me appreciate the way that religious texts can be interpreted in many different ways. It made me reflect on how we look at the world and how quickly we criticize strangers for their behavior, while at the same time it’s possible to estrange from yourself and the people you love so quickly.

I do truly wonder why it was decided to use the word ‘God’ instead of ‘Allah’ in the book, just to be curious and to broaden my understanding if it was a choice from the author, agent or the publisher.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher of this book, Penguin General UK, to grant me a DRC version of this novel. All opinions are my own*