Name: The Enchantress of Florence
ISBN: 9780224061636

Salman Rushdie

Presents the story of a woman attempting to command her own destiny in a man's world. This book brings together two cities that barely know each other - the hedonistic Mughal capital, in which the emperor wrestles daily with questions of belief, desire and the treachery of sons, and the equally sensual Florentine world of powerful courtesans.

A Novel

The Enchantress of Florence

Bhavya Sharma

Bhavana

All true believers have good reasons for disbelieving in every god except their own and so it is they who, between them, give me all the reasons for believing in none.

 Was faith not faith but simple family habit? Maybe there was no true religion but only this eternal handing down. And error could be handed down as casily as virtue. Was faith no more than an error of our ancestors?

Simon Harding

Rushdie didn't let me down with this novel, though once more the book commanded my full attention. The way he crafts his sentences, the way he takes deliberate sidetracks during his storytelling like a rambling comedian, all combine to demand total concentration at all times. Try reading this book with your kids around and you'll have no idea what is going on!

But how lucky I was to have the time to read this glorious story. Above all, he created the delightful Qara Koz, a woman who even now that I've finished, I find myself pining after. This story has it all, and once more, Rushdie shows his mastery of the craft. 

The Enchantress of Florence is one of the greatest, most rewarding novels I have ever read. I'm so glad I read more Rushdie after the disappointment of The Satanic Verses.

Prashanth Srivatsa

There was never any doubt in Rushdie's ability to weave magic and realism together, an art descended from the likes of Garcia Marquez and churned to fit into the Mughal Indian period. Similarities aside, The Enchantress of Florence is delicious in its language, a host of characters dancing to Rushdie's tune, but never really managing to make you empathise with their terrible ambitions.

James Haliburton

Wonderful, sprawling fairy tale - bawdy and beautiful . . . Rushdie effortlessy moves through time and across continents with his usal finely-tuned eye for luxurious imagery.

Trevor Berrett

Not a high recommendation here. The first part is fantastic - I loved it. But after the first 100 pages, the life got sucked out of the book! 

For my complete review:

http://mookse.wordpress.com/2008/08/0...

The Enchantress of Florence A Novel