the enchantress of florence by salman rushdie

Hauksbank – fictional character may be based on Sir John Hawkwood, an English mercenary or condottiero in 14th-century Italy.Qara Köz, Lady Black Eyes, whom Rushdie cites as having been inspired by the (fictional) character Angelica in the epic poem Orlando innamorato.

Like Rushdie's previous works, the book can be considered a work of magic realism. There is also a recurring discussion of humanism and debate as opposed to authoritarianism, and Machiavelli is a character in the book. 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. 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. The tale returns to the mobs and clamour of Florence in the hands of the Medici dynasty.Īn eight-page bibliography follows the end of the story. 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 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 story moves between continents, the court of Akbar to Renaissance Florence mixing history, fantasy and fable. 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 novel was published on 11 April 2008 by Jonathan Cape London, and in the United States by Random House.

According to Rushdie this is his 'most researched book' which required 'years and years of reading'. The Enchantress of Florence is the ninth novel by Salman Rushdie, published in 2008. Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights

The enchantress of florence by salman rushdie