The Enchantress of Florence

Extraordinary. Just extraordinary. Take the historical settings of Renaissance Florence and the court of the Grand Mughal Emperor Akbar, a good number of historical persons, and tie them together by an extraordinary flight of imagination. Spellbinding. Not all of Rushdie's novels have managed to grip me, but this one was enchanting.

Enchantress of Florence is the story of the life of a Mughal princess who was lost at the time of Babar and how her arrival after two generations changes the fate of a city made by wealthiest emperor of Hindustan, Akbar. A handsome foreigner arrives at the darbar of Akbar, pausing as the messenger of Queen of England, murdering the real messenger on the way. The reason for his arrival is to tell a tale... of the beautiful Mughal princess and a Turk warrior of Italian origin (It seems Rushdie has an obsession depicting people with a multiple cultural background) spanning a hundred years and three continents. And through the tale, the princess comes alive... As in Midnight's children, Rushdie weaves the story by using fictional and real characters, like Akbar, Amerigo Vespucci, Birbal and Thansen... And another queer depiction is of the fictional queen, Jodhabai, a figment of imagination of Akbar, who lives as a shadow in the palace of Fatehpur Sikri, respected and envied by all, including the other queens (real of course) till the other princess, Qara Koz, comes alive in the Emperor's imagination dethroning Jodha.

A beautifully written book, but I found it incredibly dull and a struggle to get through...