by Holly Payne
Book: Stand Alone
Publisher: Skywriter Books
Pub Date: Sept 2014
Book Links: Goodreads Amazon
Holly Lynn Payne's spellbinding tale brings the unparalleled poet, Mevlana Rumi, to life, and transports readers to the enchanting world of 13th century Persia. Simply but elegantly told, the story unravels the mystery surrounding a legendary orphaned girl, who discovers her gift of turning roses into oil. Named after the flowering rosa damascena, the girl reluctantly assumes the role of a living saint for the miracles she performs-longing for the only one that matters: finding her mother. Deeply wounded by the separation since birth, Damascena undergoes a riveting transformation when she meets Rumi and finally discovers the secret of the rose. Imbued with rich historical research and inspired by the devastating disappearance of Rumi's most lauded spiritual companion, Shams of Tabriz, Holly Payne has courageously opened herself to receive Rumi's teachings and offer a timeless love story.
My Review: I am new to Holly's work and loving it. She writes like poetry, and I am usually picky around this area, though Holly managed to give me a reason to try more books of this style. I loved the messages in the book. Love is important, believe in yourself, just simple things that mean a lot, and its those simple things that many forget about.
Damascena, Mevlana Rumi, Shams, I loved getting to know each character and their story. The writing itself is emotional and you can feel for these characters and feel like you know them in a way. The history was nicely written and not over done that made it seem like you were just reading a bunch of history and lost site of the characters. Everything was written just wonderfully and it was a nice change of pace to read.
Overall it was done perfectly and I would read more from Holly. Her work is lovely and you fell like you are a part of the story and I like that in a book.
My Rating:
✪✪✪✪
