My next book is an Indian novel: when Salman Rushdie revealed about his new book “Victory City”

About a year ago, in an exclusive interview with TOI’s Vinita Dawra Nangia at the Times Literature Festival 2021, former Booker Prize winner Salman Rushdie revealed about his upcoming book. “After 10 years of mostly writing these western-based novels, which are mostly set in America, I think it might be time to go back to India. I think my next novel will appear to be an Indian novel.” Rushdie shared in the interview had said

As recently as August 9, 2022, announcing his new novel, Rushdie shared the cover of his next book on social media. Titled “Victory City”, Rushdie’s new novel will be published by Penguin Random House on February 9, 2023.

Set in South India, Rushdie’s novel “Victory City” is a story of love, adventure and myth and is said to be “styled as a translation of an ancient epic”.

The book’s blurb reads, according to the Penguin Random House website, “In the wake of an unimportant battle between two long-forgotten kingdoms in 14th-century southern India, a nine-year-old girl has a divine encounter that will change the course. After witnessing the death of her mother, the Sorrowful Pampa Kampana becomes a vase for her namesake, the goddess Pampa, who begins to speak from the girl’s mouth. Granting her powers beyond the understanding of Pampa Kampana, the goddess tells her which will be decisive in the rise of a great city called Bisnaga, literally “city of victory”, the wonder of the world.

“Over the next two hundred and fifty years, the life of Pampa Kampana is deeply intertwined with that of Bisnaga, from its literal sowing of a sack of magical seeds to its tragic ruin in the most human of ways: the arrogance of those in power. Whispering Bisnaga. and its citizens, Pampa Kampana tries to accomplish the task the goddess has assigned to her: to give women equal free will in a patriarchal world. But all stories have a way to get away from their creator and Bisnaga is no exception. as the years go by, rulers come and go, battles are won and lost and alliances change, the very fabric of Bisnaga becomes an increasingly complex tapestry, with Pampa Kampana at the center. ”

Meanwhile, on August 12, 2022, Rushdie was attacked on the stage of the Chautauqua Institution in New York. He was there to give a lecture. Rushdie was stabbed 15 times and was later flown to the hospital. His assailant, identified as Hadi Matar, was immediately detained. According to the latest AP report, “Rushdie was removed from a fan and was able to speak on August 13, 2022 (Saturday), one day after he was stabbed.”

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