Title: The Carpet Weaver of Isfahan
Author: Shmuel Peretz
Genre: Mystery, Suspense
Age Group: Adult
Rating: 4,5 stars
Purchase: Amazon
Review copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Shmuel Perets’s novel, “The Carpet Weaver of Isfahan”, will satisfy fans of “A Thousand Splendid Suns” or “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Husseini. We can go so far as to include the hysterical hit “Q & A” (adapted for the screen as “Slumdog Millionaire”) – Kobi Kamin, Globus Tonight

“Shmuel Perets can tell a story… it’s a fine novel, whose original idea feeds the plot from beginning to end” – Elit Karp, Haaretz Literature

“Perets has concocted a page-turner that never turns off the suspense” – Tal Marmelstein, Israel Today

“A delight, highly recommended, you won’t be able to put it down” – Arit Israeli, Voice of the Galilee Radio

Daniel was wounded while serving in the Israeli Army. Still living with his parents, he cut himself off from the world, holed up in his room and kept his communication with anybody to a minimum. All this changes when their house is broken-into. An insurance appraiser, while checking Daniel’s room, proclaimed his small carpet is of the highest artistic craftsmanship, equivalent to a Van Gogh. This sparks something in Daniel and marks the beginning of his adventure. Daniel leaves for Canada and locates the merchant who sold the carpet to his father. There Daniel hears the story of the Carpet Weaver of Isfahan, an Iranian legend that tells of a gifted young girl who wove three magnificent carpets, but met with a tragic fate. Daniel purchases the second carpet from the merchant, and becomes fixated on locating the third carpet. He illegally enters Iran in search for the carpet weaver. In his journey he is followed by 3 secret services (Canada’s, Israel’s and Iran’s) each with a different agenda. Not aware of the international uproar he has caused, Daniel meets with the weaver and her daughter, falls in love and is beginning to heal. In the meantime a complex deal is being made to save him from a sure death and arrange his safe exit from Iran.

The Carpet Weaver Of Isfahan was originally published in Israel and was best seller for more than 2 years.

The Carpet Weaver of Isfahan has been a bestseller in Israel for more than two years, and I can easily understand why. The story goes as follows: while serving in the Israeli army, Daniel gets wounded. He’s still living with his parents and struggling with being injured, he cuts himself off from the world and holes himself up in his room, barely communicating with anyone. When their house is broken into and an insurance appraiser arrives afterwards, Daniel’s life is about to be turned upside down. The insurance appraiser checks Daniel’s room and proclaims his small carpet is of the highest artistic craftsmanship.

This sparks something in Daniel that brings back part of his old self. He leaves for Canada to locate the merchant who sold the carpet to his father. It’s there that he hears an Iranian legend about the Carpet Weaver of Isfahan, a sotry about a gifted young girl who wove three magnificent carpets before she was met with a tragic fate. Daniel purchases the second carpet from the merchant, and becomes obsessed with finding the third carpet. He’s willing to risk everything, even going so far as to enter Iran illegally, in search of the carpet weaver from the legend.

This was a rollercoaster adventure, and as a reader, you really see Daniel change, grow and transform throughout the book, from a withdrawn young man who is struggling with the horrors of life, to someone capable of making choices again, of facing life head on. He truly found himself again, and with that, he also found love, mystery, and joy in the most unlikely of places.

The only downside were the typos. The book had quite a few of them, and they often distracted me from my reading pleasure. But this was a minor nuisance, so don’t let it stop you from enjoying this amazing adventure about finding who you really are, and embracing life, with all its wonders and all its hardships.