The Blue Mosaic Vase (PDF)

Through the sympathetic eyes of an impoverished orphan boy named Mohammad, and in the tradition of Like Water for Chocolate and The Joy Luck Club, The Blue Mosaic Vase explores the role of women bound by thousands of years of tradition in a land where sons are prized. Left with only the beautiful blue mosaic vase, a gift he once gave his mother, Mohammad begins his quest for identity, love and belonging. And just as the fragile and intricate pieces of the vase fit together, so Mohammad’s ‘coming of age’ intertwines with the lives of these women, set against the ancient rhythms of Tehran’s bazaar, the desolate mud-brick villages of turn-of-the-century Persia, the impact of Islam upon their lives.

Mohammad first explores his world in the footsteps of his mother, Pargol, victim of the bazaar’s harshness and disease; next through his brother’s child bride, Feredeh, bound by ancient religious tradition; and by the suffering of the harlot, Leila, shackled by hunger into a life that has few options.

He experiences life within the dark, liquid eyes of his first love, Sherine, forced by the solemn promise of her father to marry another; through his wife, the beautiful Amira, driven by gold and lust for one she cannot have; and from the pain of the little servant girl, Batool, imprisoned by her society and left with only one choice – to buy her disgrace in the murky waters of the jewb.

Although disillusioned by the unfairness and cruelty that reign in his world, Mohammad is determined not to give up. His journey finally leads him to the widowed village weaver, Najmeh, who brings real meaning to his life. Filled with love and compassion, yet free and unbound as the shifting desert sands that surround her village, she answers only to herself. But will Mohammad find the strength to break the bonds that bind him? He knows he must.