Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak | Tell Tale

The Forty Rules of Love follows two stories: one set in the present day and the other in the thirteenth century, when the poet Rumi met his spiritual guide, Shams of Tabriz. Together, these narratives explore the timeless influence of Rumi's teachings. Ella Rubenstein, a forty-year-old woman trapped in an unhappy marriage, takes a job reading manuscripts for a literary agent. Her first assignment is Sweet Blasphemy, a novel by Aziz Zahara. As she explores the story of Shams’s search for Rumi and how the dervish transformed the discontented cleric into a passionate mystic and poet, Ella becomes enraptured. Shams's "forty rules" offer profound wisdom about love, unity, and spirituality. As Ella continues to read, she realizes that Rumi’s journey mirrors her own, and like Shams did for Rumi, Zahara may have come into her life to set her free.