Rumi is now acknowledged as one of the great mystical poets of the Western
world, with huge sales of the many collections of his poetry. Not much is known
about his life except that he lived in thirteenth-century anatolla (now
Turkey), had a great spiritual friendship with a wlld man called Shams, brought
an adopted daughter into his family, and was distraught when Shams finally
disappeared. 'Rumi's Daughter' is the delightful novel about Kimya, the girl
who was sent from her rural village to live in Rumi's home. She already had
mystical tendencies, and learned a great deal under Rumi's tutelage. Eventually
she married Shams, an unusual husband, almost totally absorbed by his longings
for God. Their marriage was fiery and different and, in the end, dissolved by
Kimya's death - after which Shams vanished. 'Rumi's Daughter' tells Kimya's
story with great charm and tenderness. Well written and thought-provoking, it
is sure to draw comparison with Paolho Coelho's 'The Alchemist', and also to
add something fresh and new to what is so far known about Rumi.
