Blood Flowers

In 1969, Sister Meg Carney is fresh out of the Novitiate and sent as a missionary to Chile-just in time to witness the overthrow of the socialist government of Salvador Allende. In the aftermath of the brutal military coup, the priest she works with is murdered and she herself is the target of surveillance. Burned out, grieving over the loss of her companero, Alfredo, and no longer the young nun who had set out so enthusiastically to bring God's word to the Chilean people six years earlier, Meg accepts an invitation from her Mother Superior to work in El Salvador where she will join Theo, her best pal from Novitiate days, and her former Novice Mistress "Queen Mum." Smugly feeling she is now a savvy missionary, Meg is soon set straight by Theo who tells her an entirely different revolution is taking place in El Salvador. Fed by Biblical refl ection rather than by Marxist analysis, Meg is soon caught up in events that bring revolutionary forces to a head. As Meg-a woman burdened by her vow of chastity-struggles with her religious vocation to serve the poor, she somehow manages to fi nd love and peace in the rawness of life."

'Sensuous and transporting... filled with the colours, tastes and fragrances of life in 17th century Isfahan. Amirrezvani clearly knows and loves the ways of old Iran, and brings them to life with the cadences of a skilled story-spinner' Geraldine Brooks THE BLOOD OF FLOWERS is a mesmerizing historical novel about a young Iranian woman whose destiny changes on the sudden death of her father. Forced to leave their village, the woman and her mother travel to the beautiful city of Isfahan, where they are taken in by an uncle, a wealthy carpet designer, and his unsympathetic wife. When an ill-considered action results in the heroine's fall from grace, she is forced into an extraordinary secret marriage. Spirited and rebellious, she wants to be free to live a life her own choosing, if she can find a way. 'The most wonderful book... Fascinating, totally original and utterly gripping' Esther Freud 'The prose... positively glows on the page, and the characterisation is similarly acute, notably of the wonderfully drawn heroine. As a journey into a society that will be alien to most readers, this is a remarkable achievement' Barry Forshaw

In Bloodflowers W. Ian Bourland examines the photography of Rotimi Fani-Kayode (1955–1989), whose art is a touchstone for cultural debates surrounding questions of gender and queerness, race and diaspora, aesthetics and politics, and the enduring legacy of slavery and colonialism. Born in Nigeria, Fani-Kayode moved between artistic and cultural worlds in Washington, DC, New York, and London, where he produced the bulk of his provocative and often surrealist and homoerotic photographs of black men. Bourland situates Fani-Kayode's work in a time of global transition and traces how it exemplified and responded to profound social, cultural, and political change. In addition to his formal analyses of Fani-Kayode's portraiture, Bourland outlines the important influence that surrealism, neo-Romanticism, Yoruban religion, the AIDS crisis, experimental film, loft culture, and house and punk music had on Fani-Kayode's work. In so doing, Bourland offers new perspectives on a pivotal artist whose brief career continues to resonate with deep aesthetic and social meaning.

The white clouds in the sky are winding and comfortable, reflecting the light of the scorching sun. People in Little shilin town also start a busy day because of this weather.