Victory City: The new novel from the Booker prize-winning, bestselling author of Midnight's Children

Description

An epic tale with a message for us all- our power is fleeting, but our stories last forever. This is Salman Rushdie at his best. A magical realist feminist tale in an historical setting that will stay with you long after you turn the final page. The epic tale of a woman who breathes a fantastical empire into existence, only to be consumed by it over the centuries - from the transcendent imagination of Booker Prize-winning, internationally bestselling author Salman Rushdie In the wake of an unimportant battle between two long-forgotten kingdoms in fourteenth-century southern India, a nine-year-old girl has a divine encounter that will change the course of history. After witnessing the death of her mother, the grief-stricken Pampa Kampana becomes a vessel for a goddess, who tells her that she will be instrumental in the rise of a great city called Bisnaga - literally 'victory city' - the wonder of the world. Over the next two hundred and fifty years, Pampa Kampana's life becomes deeply interwoven with Bisnaga's as she attempts to make good on the task that the goddess set for her- to give women equal agency in a patriarchal world. But all stories have a way of getting away from their creator and as years pass, rulers come and go, battles are won and lost, and allegiances shift, Bisnaga is no exception.

Salman Rushdie is the author of fourteen previous novels, including Midnight's Children (for which he won the Booker Prize and the Best of the Booker), The Satanic Verses, and Quichotte (which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize). A former president of PEN American Center, Rushdie was knighted in 2007 for services to literature and was made a Companion of Honour in the Queen's last Birthday Honours list in 2022.

Salman Rushdie is a genius and I wish he could read me a story - or a chapter of his book - every night before bed. The scale and scope of his intellect and his imagination is googolplex. -- A.M. Homes, author of THE UNFOLDING It does not resemble any other novel I could name. A major accomplishment by one of our greatest living writers. -- Michael Cunningham, author of THE HOURS No one, and I mean no one, can bring an entire world to life... [like] Salman Rushdie. -- Gary Shteyngart, author of OUR COUNTRY FRIENDS This is Salman Rushdie at his most virtuosic. -- Hari Kunzru, author of THE IMPRESSIONIST It will show you the adult world in a whole new light. Only a master storyteller can do that. -- Jarvis Cocker, author of GOOD POP, BAD POP A storyteller who reminds that death may take away a lot of things, but never the power of our words. -- Colum McCann, author of LET THE GREAT WORLD SPIN A capacious and sweeping telling in which writing about the past is a way of also staring dead on at the present. -- Natasha Trethewey, author of NATIVE GUARD Victory City stands out as one of the year's literary highlights... that feels like an instant classic. -- Bea Carvalho, Head of Fiction at Waterstones In its haunting, uncanny, predictive power Victory City shows once again why his work will always matter. * New York Times * A novel by a man who still, in his eighth decade, derives delight in his talent and all that he can do with it. The book is a total pleasure to read, a bright burst of colour in a grey winter season. * Sunday Times * What of Rushdie's powers? We cannot know if they are god-given, but on the evidence of this profoundly entertaining tale... Rushdie certainly still has the gift of alchemy. * Financial Times * Rushdie's relentless creative energy pairs well with his understanding of how history works... It's as if Rushdie has dropped a molecule of divinity into a petri dish containing the other basic stuff of life, and watched a civilization cultivate. * Time * A playful, magical realist epic, full of adventure and comically clashing registers, and a celebration of the power of storytelling and the endurance of literature. * Guardian * Rushdie's lavish, playful 15th novel plants him firmly back on Indian soil, cooking up an alternative Mahabharata and spinning an elaborate founding myth from the bare bones of history. He's enjoying the enterprise and his sense of fun is infectious. * Guardian * Victory City is a triumph - not because it exists, but because it is utterly enchanting. Words are the only victors ... Victory City is a cheerful little vessel, despite its ultimate destination. Its myths of origin are recounted with glee ... Rushdie plays adroitly with the metafictional and political implications of 'real' people and a 'real' polity being created out of imaginary backstories. One of the most charming of Rushdie's wonder tales. * Atlantic * More than 40 years after Midnight's Children, there is still nobody who spins a yarn quite like Salman Rushdie. * Spectator * Salman Rushdie's exuberant writing remains a source of pleasure ... A vibrant, sweeping tale with a valuable message: that stories outlast tyrants and words can be the true victory. * Independent * Victory City is epic in its sweep, exploring the futility of violence, the marginalisation of women and the resilience of great art, and it is written with a winning lightness. It is a vital and revivifying addition to Rushdie's body of work and it would be no surprise to see it in contention for major prizes later this year. * i * A wonderfully entertaining literary hybrid, an intimate epic, a serious comedy of manners. * The Times * It's splendid that Salman Rushdie has a new novel out... Better still, it's a cracker. * Observer, *What You Should Be Reading in 2023* * An epic adventure-filled saga, you'll be intoxicated by its magic. * Glamour * A vigorous, enjoyable epic that hymns the enduring might of narrative over more fleeting forces. * Mail on Sunday * Bravo to this funny, cynical, bewildering mix of satire and fantasy. * Evening Standard * This latest addition to his great body of work deserves nothing but celebration and gratitude. * New Statesman * [Victory City has the] tone of mischief Rushdie is always able to channel into his bright, fluid storytelling. Amid all the courtly intrigue and fantastic realism woven through the extensive cast of characters, fleeting dashes of wicked humour sit up and pierce the tale delectably. Rushdie's sharp, camouflaged satire speaks to everything, from religious extremism to greed to patriarchal misogyny. It all just seems to unspool from him without effort. * Irish Independent *