The Forty Rules of Love- Elif Shafak

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"Every true love and friendship is a story of unexpected transformation. If we are the same person before and after we loved, that means we haven’t loved enough."
The Forty Rules of Love is a captivating and titillating novel that consists of two parallel stories with characters who are struggling with life and love. One story is set in 2008 and the other in thirteenth century during the time when the great poet Rumi met his mentor and companion, The Shams of Tabriz. 
Ella, a forty year old mother of three, is unfulfilled and unsatisfied with her life. She is constantly questioning her relationships, especially with her husband whom she is unhappily married to. 
As the desire to change things around her takes a stronghold of Ella, she takes on a job as a reader for a  literary agent and her first task is to read Sweet Blasphemy, a novel by Aziz Hazara. Thus begins the other parallel of the book which contains The Forty Rules postulated by the wandering dervish popularly known as Shams of Tabriz. 
Shams of Tabriz meets Rumi and transforms him from a successful but unhappy scholar to the greatest poet of all time. Rumi and Shams are like two jars, you break one and the other breaks with it. As Ella reads on, the story of Rumi's transformation not only enthralls her but she also realizes that the book has transformed her into believing in love again. Similar to Rumi and Shams, Ella cannot help but think of Aziz as her mystical escape from an unhappy and unfulfilled life into one full of love and dedication. 
The Forty Rules by Shams provide a philosophical insight into concepts like brotherhood of man and unity of all religions. These Rules leave the reader at ease and manage to provide answers to many contentious issues of religion, faith and love. 
This book left me with not only an immense amount of peace and love in my heart but also with a sense of courage to love. Courage to love with an open heart because in the words of Shams, “The quest for love changes us. There is no seeker among those who search for love who has not matured on the way. The moment you start looking for love, you start to change within and without.”

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