Anahita's Woven Riddle

Growing up as part of a Muslim nomadic tribe in Iran one hundred years ago, Anahita has always been headstrong and independent. When her parents try to make a marriage match between her and her tribe's khan (a type of inter-tribe leader), Anahita rebels. She will gladly marry, she says, but only to the man who can solve the riddle she weaves into her wedding carpet. Though nothing like this has ever been done before, her family and the tribe's spiritual leader eventually agree to the plan. But who will solve the riddle - A schoolteacher with unusual blue eyes? Her childhood friend and confidant? The odious khan? Or a faraway prince she glimpsed at the market? Filled with rich details of life in the desert and a modern-thinking, clever protagonist, this is historical fiction with a touch of fairy-tale. It is also a timely glimpse at the Middle East from a writer who has lived and travelled there.