A review by logickat
The Carpet Makers by Andreas Eschbach

4.0

The Carpet Makers are men who spend all of their entire adult lives weaving a carpet from hair, which he gets from his wives and daughters. He is only allowed to have one son, to inherit his carpet debt, so extra baby boys are killed. The people believe that they are serving their emperor, whom they worship as a god, and the whole carpet-making/buying/shipping process is steeped in religious ritual, to maintain power/control.

This story is full of imaginative events but also devastating and miserable circumstances and actions.