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2008 novel by Salman Rushdie From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Enchantress of Florence is the ninth novel by Salman Rushdie, published in 2008.[1] According to Rushdie this is his "most researched book" which required "years and years of reading".[2]
Cover of the first edition | |
| Author | Salman Rushdie |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | Random House |
Publication date | April 11, 2008 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (hardback) |
| Pages | 352 pp. (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | 0-375-50433-8 (first edition, hardback) |
| OCLC | 187302674 |
| Preceded by | Shalimar the Clown |
| Followed by | Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights |
The novel was published on 11 April 2008 by Jonathan Cape London, and in the United States by Random House.[3]
The central theme of The Enchantress of Florence is the visit of a European to the Mughal emperor Akbar's court and his claim that he is a long lost relative of Akbar, born of an exiled Indian princess and an Italian from Florence. The story moves between continents, the court of Akbar to Renaissance Florence mixing history, fantasy and fable.[2]
The tale of adventure begins in Fatehpur Sikri, the capital of Mughal emperor Akbar the Great, when a stranger arrives, having stowed away on a pirate ship captained by the Scottish Lord Hauksbank, and sets the Mughal court talking and looking back into its past.
The stranger begins to tell Akbar the tale, going back to the boyhood of three friends in Florence, Il Machia, Ago Vespucci and Nino Argalia, the last of whom became an adventurer in the East.
The tale returns to the mobs and clamour of Florence in the hands of the House of Medici.
An eight-page bibliography follows the end of the story.[4]
The book relates a succession of interweaving stories by a variety of storytellers, travellers and adventurers and of course touches on the histories and cultures of the various settings including the Mughal and Ottoman Empires, the earlier Mongols, and Renaissance Florence. There is a strong theme of sex and eroticism, much of it surrounding the Enchantress of the book's title, who was inspired by the Renaissance poem Orlando Furioso. There is also a recurring discussion of humanism and debate as opposed to authoritarianism, and Machiavelli is a character in the book.[5] Like Rushdie's previous works, the book can be considered a work of magic realism.
Culture Critic assessed critical response as an aggregated score of 76% based on British and American press reviews.[6] On Bookmarks January/February 2011 issue, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a 
(3.00 out of 5) from based on critic reviews with a critical summary saying, "The Washington Post sums up general sentiment: If one can overlook its flaws, The Enchantress of Florence is "so delightful an homage to Renaissance magic and wonder".[7] Globally, Complete Review saying on the consensus "No consensus, very differing opinions".[8]
Writing in The Guardian, Ursula K. Le Guin called it a "brilliant, fascinating, generous novel", and praised its "glamour and power, its humour and shock, its verve, its glory".[9]
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