Salman Rushdie is a once in a generation writer. His imaginative blend of magical realism and historical fiction provides readers with such an expansive journey, that he truly redefines the notion of a saga. Victory City is no exception. It is emotive, thought-provoking, and aesthetic, and may well be destined for an unprecedented eighth Booker Prize nomination for Rushdie.

The story of Bisnaga (Victory City) begins in the 1300s after a battle between two kingdoms in southern India. A battle so forgettable that it was not given a name. In the aftermath of the battle, a group of women, who had largely lost their husbands during the combat, march into a wall of fire. Among them is the mother of nine-year-old Pampa Kampana, who watches on as the woman who raised her calmly walks to her death. In that moment, Pampa becomes possessed by the goddess Parvati, who speaks from the mouth of the young girl. Pampa is told that she will lead the fight to ensure that men start considering women in new ways, that she would live to witness both her success and failure, and that she would bring forth a new reality, a new empire, through the grand new city Bisnaga. For the next two and a half centuries, the story follows Pampa’s journey through the complexities and turmoil that begins to take hold of Bisnaga.

Victory City is the quintessential Rushdie; a fantastical saga draped in Indian mythology and lore. Amid countless lessons, it is a tale that teaches us that power doesn’t last forever, though stories do. The Booker Prize winning author has returned in triumphant fashion, and after the events of 2022, we can only hope that this isn’t his last.

Reviewed by Samuel Bernard

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Visit Salman Rushdie’s website

Salman Rushdie is the author of thirteen novels: Grimus, Midnight’s Children (which was awarded the Booker Prize in 1981), Shame, The Satanic Verses, Haroun and the Sea of Stories, The Moor’s Last Sigh, The Ground Beneath Her Feet, Fury, Shalimar the Clown, The Enchantress of Florence, Luka and the Fire of Life, Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights, and The Golden House.

Rushdie is also the author of a book of stories, East, West, and four works of non-fiction – Joseph Anton – A Memoir, Imaginary Homelands, The Jaguar Smile, and Step Across This Line. He is the co-editor of Mirrorwork, an anthology of contemporary Indian writing, and of the 2008 Best American Short Stories anthology.

His books have been translated into over forty languages.

He has adapted Midnight’s Children for the stage. It was performed in London and New York by the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 2004, an opera based upon Haroun and the Sea of Stories was premiered by the New York City Opera at Lincoln Center.

A film of Midnight’s Children, directed by Deepa Mehta, was released in 2012.

The Ground Beneath Her Feet, in which the Orpheus myth winds through a story set in the world of rock music, was turned into a song by U2 with lyrics by Salman Rushdie.