The Virgin’s Knot
Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers book, The Virgin's Knot follows the extraordinary life of Nurdane (Noor-dana), the famed weaver of Mavisu. From her remote mountain village in southwestern Turkey, she creates dowries for young brides: dazzling rugs that are marvels of shape and color, texture and light. Her unique rugs possess remarkable healing qualities that have inspired local legend, but it is her hands that are at the heart of her mystery. An artist's hands. A virgin's hands.
An extraordinary series of events drives Nurdane to question the limitations of her faith and culture as she is caught between the cost of remaining pure in body and spirit...or risking everything for the chance to live a loving life.
Imbued with the history and lore of Turkish culture and tradition, The Virgin’s Knot chronicles a young woman’s journey from innocence to knowledge and loneliness to love. Also published in the UK, Turkey, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece and the Netherlands.
“Holly Payne is the new Scheherazade”
Laurie Fox
“To weave was to write and to write was to be understood...In possessing the rugs, women owned a part of themselves that no fundamental law could ever compromise.”
“[To be] savored like the dark intensity of Turkish coffee.”
San Francisco Chronicle
“Creates an almost mystical tableau.”
The San Jose Mercury News
“A thoughtful, tempered debut… Payne keeps the story simple, elemental, and reserved,
emphasizing the timeless quality of the tragic tale… a well-crafted, meditative piece.”
Kirkus Reviews
“A beautifully written and evocative fable. . . . An entrancing blend of myth,
history, and religious feminism that results in a tale as compelling as it is elusive.”
Booklist
“Every page of The Virgin’s Knot is a tightly woven and bountiful gift to readers. Like all who lived in her Turkish village, and two exceptional men,I fell in love with the remarkable weaver and her magic carpets.”
Diane Leslie, author of Fleur De Leigh’s Life of Crime
“Infused with poetry and perfume, The Virgin’s Knot is that rare thing: a soulful page-turner. Holly Payne is the new Scheherazade!”
Laurie Fox, author of My Sister from the Black Lagoon
“The hearts and minds of today’s observant Muslim women are as hidden from us as their faces. In her novel The Virgin’s Knot, set in the inaccessible reaches of the Taurus Mountains, Holly Payne unveils a world the casual tourist never sees, a world virtually unchanged for a thousand years.”
Jacqueline Park, author of The Secret Book of Grazia Dei Rossi