Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: The Virgin's Knot by Holly Payne, Bernadette Quigley, Sandra Burr ISBN: 1-59086-156-6 Publisher: Brilliance Audio Pub. Date: July, 2002 Format: Audio Cassette Volumes: 6 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.95 (22 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Virgin's Knot romantic and thought provoking
Comment: Nurdane, is a weaver living high in the remote mountain village of Mavisu. Disabled in early childhood, she cannot hope to be a bride like those for whom she weaves her astonishing rugs. But she dreams, comforted by the knowledge that as long as long as her hands remain pure, her skill, a gift from Allah, will remain.
Fathers in her village compete with one another, convinced their sin of bearing daughters will be expiated by the arrival of grandsons, if only marriages can be consummated on one of Nurdane's mystical rugs.
When American physical anthropologist, John Hennessey arrives, eager to find proof of Cybelle the ancient Goddess whom he believes will free the women from their male-imposed Islamic shackles, Nurdane is drawn to him.
Femininity lost, suppressed and denied by centuries of tradition and religious observance the warp, interlaced with a weft of emerging independence through forbidden education and societal change.
Holly Payne's first novel is set in 1950's Turkey amongst the people and the land she loves. With a richness and beauty like the hand-woven rugs themselves, she ties us, knot by knot into village life and beliefs, some of which endure to this day.
As Nurdane weaves and dreams of one day lying on her own dowry rug, she knows she must sacrifice something to Allah: her skill as a renowned weaver of healing rugs, or her womanhood.
The emergence of women and matriarchal power in society has been a theme in literature for centuries and Holly Payne adds to that library with this delicate, magical book.
Rating: 5
Summary: Remember the Gordian Knot
Comment: Holly Payne has a wonderfully evocative writing style, and has crafted a psychologically complex main character. A number of reviewers were disappointed or upset by the sudden, violent ending of the book. I didn't see it, however, as an 'out' for the author, but rather as a culmination of the Gordian myth with which she begins the book. Payne very intentionally gives an account of the myth of the intricate knot tied by Gordius (the Gordian Knot). The expression "to cut the Gordian knot" refers to solving a difficult problem by a sudden decisive action (remember that in the myth the knot was not carefully and logically unknotted, but slashed with a single sword stroke). So one might conclude that the "Virgin's Knot" of the title is not, as one first suspects, all those knots composing the Turkish carpets -- but rather the Virgin's (Gordian) knot: how to solve her complex and complexing situation. This book is a wonderful read -- on the surface for the beautiful word choices, and on a deeper level for it truths. [Its complexity could make it a very good assignment for a university's women's studies or psychology class.]
Rating: 4
Summary: Understanding Nurdane & Payne
Comment: True, the book is not perfect --- honestly speaking, it could have been better. But albeit it being a fiction, it provided an insight to the past (& maybe still present to this very day for some) of Moslem women where life was strictly governed by a patriarchal society & the Koran. In a way, the Virgin's Knot is similar to Paolo Coehlle's the Alchemist, due to Santiago & Nurdane's constant search for truth & happiness. Unfortunately, Nurdane did not share Santiago's good fortune. Despite her questioning & being able to know the truth, her years of suppression & submission made her fail to believe and accept in what she finally discovered. Hence, the abrupt & tragic ending.
All in all, the Virgin's Knot is worth reading - if not for its exquisite plot - then, at least for the insight it offers on a unique society.
 |
Title: Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks ISBN: 0142001430 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 30 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
 |
Title: Daughter of the Loom by Tracie Peterson, Judith Miller, Judith McCoy-Miller ISBN: 0764226886 Publisher: Bethany House Pub. Date: February, 2003 List Price(USD): $12.99 |
 |
Title: The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland ISBN: 0142001821 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 31 December, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
 |
Title: The Twentieth Wife: A Novel by Indu Sundaresan ISBN: 0743428188 Publisher: Washington Square Press Pub. Date: 18 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
 |
Title: The Hemingway Book Club of Kosovo by Paula Huntley ISBN: 1585422118 Publisher: J. P. Tarcher Pub. Date: 10 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
