The Forty Rules of Love

By: Elif Shafak

Narrated by: George Blagden

Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak, read by George Blagden.

Ella Rubinstein has a husband, three teenage children and a pleasant home. Everything that should make her confident and fulfilled. Yet there is an emptiness at the heart of Ella's life - an emptiness once filled by love.  

So when Ella reads a manuscript about the 13th-century Sufi poet Rumi and Shams of Tabriz, and his 40 rules of life and love, she is shocked out of herself. Turning her back on her family, she embarks on a journey to meet the mysterious author of this work.  

It is a quest infused with Sufi mysticism and verse, taking Ella and us into an exotic world where faith and love are heartbreakingly explored....

©2019 Elif Shafak (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Nice book

Liked it. As Jesus said," Love one another as I have loved you". Feel good book.

A touching story and an equally touching narration

The book has successfully given life to many characters, each of which had their own beliefs and opinions.
The narrator did a great job embodying the different characters and distinguishing between them.
The only reason I didn't rate it as a 5 star book was because of the gloominess that surrounded the final chapters.

Surprising, captivating, and thought provoking.

I thought this was going to be another trendy Middle Eastern romantic story. It came recommended by people who's views I admired, so I read it. It ended up redefining many skewed meanings I had in my mind about the religious and (or should I say v.s) spiritual areas of life. Will probably read it again at another point in time. Highly recommended if you're a 'truth seeker'. George Blagden's narration was mesmerising!

its just sucks you in before you even realize it.

amazing story lines cross centuries apart... very enlightened and flows through smoothly from beginning to end.

Fascinante, poético e imperdível !!

Com uma narrativa magistral e muita sensibilidade, a autora faz renascer a imortal história de Shams e Rumi através de outra história, contemporânea e com personagens que nos permitem sentir que aquele Amor do século XIII continua vivendo e ecoando aqui no século XXI e sempre.

Weird emotions

I liked the fact that those are 2 stories in one
Its like i was watching a netflix series that i was eager to jump to the next chapter.

I loved the performance. It is captivating.
The arabic pronunciation is not good for an Arabic speaking person.

Great book.

One of my favorite

Such a beautiful, light and special book to listen, second time listening to it and I still enjoy it

Couldn’t stop listening

I loved every second of this audio book and the performance of the narrator was outstanding.

An enchanting book!

Loved it - both the story and the narration. While an easy book to digest, it was equally deep & meaningful. I was a little sad that it had to end. Definitely worth it!

An amazing book

Contains everything needed. Loved it wholeheartedly
Will be listening to it again for sure. Amazing

Great story, not great audio

You really need to pay attention with this audiobook because voices don’t change often and there are a lot of characters to keep track of. Story was great, I just wish the speaker had more diversity with his deliverance.

"The Embodiment of Nothingness"

Astonishingly beautiful and readable love story, mystical poem and historical adventure. I can't remember when I last read a novel that impressed me so much.

Sooo disappointing, awful narration and worse plot

I had been so looking forward to this book as I really enjoyed 'The Architect's Apprentice' by Elif Sharak and am a big fan of Rumi so this book sounded wonderful, unfortunately it was a massive disappointment. The narration was awful and such a weird choice - using an English man to play and American family (mainly a mother and daughter) as well as multiple Persian characters - he unfortunately did so in such a meek and simpering way for all the characters you can't ever get beyond his annoying breathy tone into the story. But even if you could, the plot is terrible as well. There is a Sufi mystic lecturing at you for whole portions of the book which becomes increasingly dull, but worse than that, is the quite frankly entirely unbelievable central plot of the correspondence between the main character -a self-proclaimed housewife- and a globe-trotting sufi author. We're supposed to believe they're falling in love through their letters, however while the sufi sends her interesting and thoughtful observations on the world as he travels through it, she responds by only ever really talking about how boring she and her life are, putting herself down and begging for reassurance (from a man who doesn't know her). There are also some weird anti-female undertones to the Rumi part of the book where he and the mystic are straight up shitty to his wife for her wanting to be remotely involved or acknowledged, and the mystic (who's entire purpose in life is to follow the religion of love), marries Rumi's adopted daughter, decides for some inexplicable reason he can't have sex with her, and then lets her go crazy and die of heartbreak which honestly doesn't seem to bother him or Rumi at all, and they continue merrily on their way. What even is this book!?

Beautiful and full of wisdom

Narrated with warmth and compassion.
The narrator gently illustrates many different characters subtly and effectively.

An intricate web of colourful characters, this beautifully written book carries you through history and brings to life timeless truths that are needed today more than ever.
So grateful to have received this precious gift.

Disappointed

I was so looking forward to this book but sadly it didn't hook me in. I didn't particularly like the characters, the story was plodding, and I lost interest ha!f way through.

A bit confusing and odd narration

I absolutely loved The Island of Lost Trees and high hopes for this book. I have been disappointed. So many characters in the historical parts and pretty much voiced exactly the same, made it hard to follow who was who at times. Maybe better in print but I found the narrator to be very flat and his voice for Ella made her sound a bit pathetic. I may try this a print book, I feel I should have enjoyed it more.

A Revelation

I absolutely loved this book. I don't know what I was expecting but what I got was a reality check. Religion/ spirituality / belief - the whole of the story challenged and made me adapt my preconceptions. I will read this again

Safety in an ever changing world

This book shows you where true safety lies in an ever changing world. It matches the bizar speed of growth we have to adapt to in these extraordinary times. This book provides guidelines with such clear and profound examples, while at the same time moving your heart through its story.

A powerful story

Books come to people in the right time. As the story in this book will tell you if it is the right time for you to hear it.

Good uplifting novel

I enjoyed the book and the narration. Pleasant voice and interesting insightful story. Thank you!