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The Enchantress of Florence

3.49 of 5 stars 3.49 · rating details · 8,495 ratings · 1,376 reviews

The Enchantress of Florence is the story of a mysterious woman, a great beauty believed to possess the powers of enchantment and sorcery, attempting to command her own destiny in a man’s world. It is the story of two cities at the height of their powers–the hedonistic Mughal capital, in which the brilliant emperor Akbar the Great wrestles daily with questions of belief, de...more

Paperback, 349 pages

Published January 6th 2009 by Random House Trade Paperbacks (first published 2008)

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Mar 21, 2012 Becky rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Becky by: Kenny

Shelves: real-life-bookclub, 2012, fantasy, nook, romance, reviewed, blog_etb, challenge-1010

When this book was chosen for my real life bookclub, I was a little nervous about it. I'd never read anything of Salman Rushdie's before, and I wouldn't have chosen this one to start with (if ever). I'll be honest, the premise looks kind of boring.

But then I started reading it. And I was completely surprised by not only how much I liked it, but by how funny it was. Irreverent, and witty, and whimsical and a little weird, with more than a dash of gutter-humor funny that had me giggling like a fi...more

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Nov 14, 2008 jordan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

On occasion a novel receives harsh treatment from critics not based on the actual work, but rather because it is not what the critics want it to be; this then is the only explanation I can find to explain the harsh, often shrill, reviews received by Rushdie's equisite "The Enchantress of Florence." Having read several of these negative assessments I find the same sub-text runs through them all, namely the complaint that "Enchantress" is neither Rushdie's masterwork "Midnight's Children" nor that...more On occasion a novel receives harsh treatment from critics not based on the actual work, but rather because it is not what the critics want it to be; this then is the only explanation I can find to explain the harsh, often shrill, reviews received by Rushdie's equisite "The Enchantress of Florence." Having read several of these negative assessments I find the same sub-text runs through them all, namely the complaint that "Enchantress" is neither Rushdie's masterwork "Midnight's Children" nor that lesser work for which he became broadly famous - or in other circles infamous - "The Satanic Verses." To be sure, "Enchantress" is a far different book than Rushdie's previous work, less meditative and more fantastical, yet what is the problem with a great writer branching out into new genres and worlds? While I have loved several of his earlier work, for his choice to create the extraordinary world of "Enchantress" I celebrate Rushdie's genius and thank him for giving me what I can only describe as an extraordinary read.

Other reviewers have offered excellent plot synopsis of "The Enchantress of Florence" and therefore I will offer only the briefest details of the story lines. A blond haired stranger, calling himself Mogor del'Amore (the Mughal of Love) appears in the quasi-magical city of Akbar, the Mughal King of Kings. The stranger claims to be the descendant of Akbar's grandfather's lost younger sister, carried into captivity earlier. He regales Akbar with the tale of the "lost princess" and how she journeyed across Eurasia and found herself eventually in the city of Florence. Overtime a horde of historical personages make appearances, some major, others less so, such as members of the Medici family and Machiavelli.

The story itself is so rich with detail that on occasion the reader feels as if they have been a guest at a feast. One constantly questions which details are true and which are products of Rushdie's extraordinary imagination. Interestingly, Rushdie spent years researching this work and in interviews claims that much of what one might think the most fantastical - the Shi'a monarch who uses his enemy's skull as a drinking goblet or the Ottoman Caliph who's gardeners double as his executioners - are in fact the ones that are true. On occasion on really wishes that there were a study guide to go along with the book.

Like the best fairy tales, Rushdie's "Enchantress" layers in many deep and vexing questions that transcend any age: What does it mean to be real? What is the good life? How can one be happy? All of this arrives in a story written with such incomparable talent, that one can not easily put it down. "The Enchantress of Florence" may not have been the work that the critics wanted Rushdie to write, but I have little doubt that in generations to come, readers will recognize it as among his greatest works. (less)

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Jul 10, 2008 Scott Gates rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Filled with lush emptiness. There is more love-at-first-sight in the Enchantress than all other stories put together. Entire cities fall in love at first sight. And the level of subtlety rarely rises above this. After a promising first 80 pages or so, it begins to resemble a cartoon (in a bad way). Even the blasphemies in this book—-which seemed to be produced by Rushdie perfunctorily, like a band that always makes sure to play its most popular song—-are wooden and innocuous.

It’s too bad this b...more

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Jul 20, 2008 Elizabeth (Miss Eliza) rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical_fiction, authors_i_have_met, signed_editions

While every review seems a need to state the basic plot of the yellow-haired stranger appearing in Akbar's court I will quickly skip over this and go straight to what I thought. I felt that the book was very uneven, there where parts that were just wonderful and deserving a full five stars, in particular the story of the illuminator who disappeared into his own artwork and the concept of Jhoda, and others that were so very boring that the average became a two.

The main problem I had was that it...more

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Jul 13, 2008 Ben Babcock rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own, fantasy, historical-fiction, 2008-read, indian-fiction, literary-pretentious, romance, gender-issues

As a neophyte of Salman Rushdie's work, I was not fully prepared for The Enchantress of Florence, although I should have been. Rushdie possesses an uncanny ability to manipulate perspective. In his stories, the flow of time is always questionable, and subject to change--if it flows at all. And his characters are larger-than-life, capricious archetypes that embody the virtues and flaws of humanity.

In this novel, Rushdie runs two stories parallel to each other: that of Emperor Akbar's court, the e...more As a neophyte of Salman Rushdie's work, I was not fully prepared for The Enchantress of Florence, although I should have been. Rushdie possesses an uncanny ability to manipulate perspective. In his stories, the flow of time is always questionable, and subject to change--if it flows at all. And his characters are larger-than-life, capricious archetypes that embody the virtues and flaws of humanity.

In this novel, Rushdie runs two stories parallel to each other: that of Emperor Akbar's court, the emperor's life and philosophy; and the story of a man's heritage, of a lost Mughal princess who travels from Asia to Florence to the New World, then beyond. The boundaries between these two stories--the latter of which takes place in the first one's past--are flimsy, permeable. If you were expecting a linear narrative that reads like a movie novelization, then you a) have not read Salman Rushdie before and b) will not get that.

I might even characterize this story as a fable, for it carries that particular brand of enchantment about it. Romance, yes, that too: the main characters all mediate on the nature of love at one point or another. Cloaked in sixteenth-century philosophical ideas, these ruminations may seem pompous or boring, but I found them intriguing. Akbar struggles with the existence of God, the divine right to rule, whether might truly is the only arbiter of power. We also see a fictionalized Machiavelli, disenchanted with his wife, and like so many men in this story, drawn into the web of enchantment that the eponymous princess weaves.

Descend deeper through these layers, and Rushdie focuses on the nature of power for women in a world dominated by men. How do women exert their influence? Is their beauty, their sexuality, the only way they can ever gain power? In this book, two female characters are essentially imaginary, constructed from the mind of Akbar. What does this say about the nature of gender, a man creating his feminine opposites because he cannot find them in life?

Rushdie uses this story as a vehicle to explore a woman's life--told largely through the perspectives of men, ironically--in this period of history. However, I wouldn't necessarily call this a work of historical fiction, in the sense that it does not concern itself too much with the details of history except when they serve a purpose. The story is not about the Mughal empire so much as it is set, for a part, in that empire.

While "epic" or "sword and sorcery" fantasy has its place, its success of late has typecasted the genre. In those stories, magic is almost a science, subjected to laws the way we have restricted gravity. We often forget that the definition of fantasy is broader. In this respect, The Enchantress of Florence reminds me of Jonathan Strange Mr. Norrell . It is truly a fantastic adventure and romance just steeped in unrestrained magic, a world in which anything is possible--but not everything is permitted.(less)

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Nov 08, 2011 Nile daughter rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: india-pakistan

My first read for Rushdie …well , I was confused how to rate this book . This does not mean that I hardly liked it.No ,it is just that there were parts deserved 5 starts for me while other parts simply irritated me!!! still ...I do recommend it , and I highly appreciate the work that has been done in this novel, I totally understand the declaration that it took him years to write this one .Even as reader he pushed me searching and thirsty for more about the subject!

"the enchantress of Florence "...more My first read for Rushdie …well , I was confused how to rate this book . This does not mean that I hardly liked it.No ,it is just that there were parts deserved 5 starts for me while other parts simply irritated me!!! still ...I do recommend it , and I highly appreciate the work that has been done in this novel, I totally understand the declaration that it took him years to write this one .Even as reader he pushed me searching and thirsty for more about the subject!

"the enchantress of Florence " is a historical novel that jump from a place to place ; Mughal India , Safavid empire of Iran , the Ottoman Empire , Renaissance in Italy ; reaching the New World at the end (?!) - all of this in the sixteenth century , but represented by events and characters (generations) that are separated by half a century .Certainly a beautiful yarn to gather east and west together in a significant point of history , I believe that this quote from the novel : " This may be the curse of human race . Not that we are different from one anther , but we are so alike ." has very much deal of the message of this book .

Other aspects were different philosophical meditations about power , religion , home , love and "self" or as Rushdie said himself " achieve significance as human beings". That woven fabric was done in an amazing way through actual re-drawn historical figures like "Akbar the great" and "Machiavelli" (Surprising/contradicting image to the limit that I need to read the prince to get balance!) . also through fictional characters that linked all the strings together ( I liked that) , one of them is our heroin : the princess (the Mongolic enchantress of Florence) and her love story - One of my irritating issues that I wanted to love her …to admire her journey , but I could not do so !(I was not attracted to any other female character except Akbar's aunt but she faded too soon besides her rebellion was Basically anti-religion ) . BTW , I noticed some reviews accusing the novel of being sexist , is that what annoyed me ? hmmm not sure; considering the time period ; when women influence came from behind curtains . yet I can not put my feelings or annoyment here into solid words !

The novel is very rich in details ; art and aurban took a prominent position in this book , now it will be a dream come true for me to visit " Fatehpur Sikri" that he cleverly drew her prosperity and transformation into city of ghosts ..

Akbar will be always a figure that I will never forget , his interest in religious and philosophical matters , the idea of "House of Worship" was quite interesting (I am still reading about the subject) . this took big part of the book , and I am not sure which of the religious thoughts in the novel were Akbar's or actually Rushdie's !

I have no more to say for the moment , but I like to quote Rushdie :" non-historians think of history as being a collection of facts, whereas actually it's not -- it's a collection of theories about the past. We revise our view of the past all the time, depending on our own present concerns " … an approach that I should always remember ..

N.B
* I enjoyed reading this interview with Rushdie about this novel in 2008 and found it very usefull in understanding the novel Salman Rushdie Spins a Yarn
(less)

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Sep 01, 2008 Christa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: library

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. In The Enchantress of Florence, Salman Rushdie mixes history with fiction in order to create a tale of adventure, power, and romance. I enjoyed most of the book, but I found it to be a bit disjointed in places. There were so many names in the book that it was hard to keep them all straight at times. Some of the primary characters in the novel are a mysterious golden haired adventurer, an all powerful emperor, an imaginary queen, and a princess who has been erased from history. Toward the end of...more In The Enchantress of Florence, Salman Rushdie mixes history with fiction in order to create a tale of adventure, power, and romance. I enjoyed most of the book, but I found it to be a bit disjointed in places. There were so many names in the book that it was hard to keep them all straight at times. Some of the primary characters in the novel are a mysterious golden haired adventurer, an all powerful emperor, an imaginary queen, and a princess who has been erased from history. Toward the end of the book, Rushdie includes my least favorite storyline, that of incest. I would have rated the book higher if he had not woven incest into the story in a couple of different ways.

A golden haired adventurer enters the city and says that he has a message for the emperor. He is taken before the ruler, and finds favor. Over a long period of time, he tells the emperor a legend that is his own story as he knows it. The emperor, a very lonely ruler with three unworthy sons who has created for himself an imaginary wife, is entraced by the adventurer's story. The adventurer tells a tale of three friends, one of whom leaves his home in Florence as an orphan and returns as a powerful warrior with an enchantress as his consort. The enchantress is also an eastern princess, and all of Florence falls under her spell for a time. The emperor begins to feel the presence of the long dead princess and to want her for his own - however, this is forbidden as she was his great aunt. The emperor feels strongly drawn toward the adventurer and considers bestowing great honor on him, but instead, turns away from him, bringing ruin to his great city.

This is the first novel I have read by Rushdie. I found it to be interesting, and I enjoyed his style of writing. It was difficult to keep up with the characters and story in some places, but the main turnoff for me was the forbidden relationships that were in the end of the book. I had mixed feelings about this book, and I am not certain if I will read more by him.

(less)

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Apr 22, 2008 Nancy Oakes rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Rushdie has this particular trait that I've noticed in his writing: he writes entertainingly, but the reader cannot simply sit back and be entertained. This book was no exception.

In one sense, I felt like Shahryar waiting for Scherezade to continue her tale. Every time I'd put the book down and come back to it, there was always something new, and something to look forward to. There's not just one story here, but several, and each one is intricately layered so that the reader has to stop and thi...more

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Jul 17, 2008 Lori (Hellian) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Reading this is like eating a bowl of creamy ice cream. Luscious words that seem to slide down and enervate but tastefully lingers to remind you it's not as light as you first thought. Reading Rushdie is like a spark of recognition with a fellow traveler and I tip my hat in greeting, to say hello! it was lovely walking with you for awhile, thank you for reminding me what it is to connect with someone, hope to bump into you again further down the road, and may you have a good journey.

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Jan 19, 2009 Jesse rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

this is the first book i have read by rushdie and it's good enough to encourage me to read "midnight's children" which i hear is his best book. if anyone has any suggestions as to something besides that, i'm open for some advice. this book was fairly entertaining, but it seemed to get wrapped up in itself and stumbled to the finish, rushing through the most important part of the plot in about 20 pgs, while spending the previous 270 pgs, slowly spinning an east meets west orientalist yarn. the pa...more this is the first book i have read by rushdie and it's good enough to encourage me to read "midnight's children" which i hear is his best book. if anyone has any suggestions as to something besides that, i'm open for some advice. this book was fairly entertaining, but it seemed to get wrapped up in itself and stumbled to the finish, rushing through the most important part of the plot in about 20 pgs, while spending the previous 270 pgs, slowly spinning an east meets west orientalist yarn. the parts of the story about the golden=haired traveler (mogor dell'amore) were the most entertaining. his story-telling ability and charm were amusing enough to keep the pages turning, but the gloomy musings of akbar the great (the mughal emperor) became tedious after a while. this was rather disappointing as akbar was an extremely fascinating historical figure, who built a temple to knowledge and allowed the discussion of all religions to be had in a common sphere, in an attempt to find the one true religion. he was also an artist, inventor, and animal trainer. all this was fodder for some great material, yet rushdie settled for continual ruminations about akbar using the grammatical singular (boring). besides the court of the mughal emperor the other part of the story took place in florence. and while both these locations are exotic, rushdie just isn't a good enough writer to really bring 16th century florence to life. he even includes niccolo machiavelli (author of "the prince"); yet this character comes across flat and because of the winding, disjointed order of the story, you never really get a good sense of his motivation for writing his most famous work.
the novel's plot involves mogor dell'amore showing up at the mughal court telling akbar that he is his uncle by a long lost princess who eventually wound up in florence. akbar doesn't quite believe him and - arabian nights style - the traveler slowly reveals his tale of enchantment, war, and love. this part of the novel contains some of the most moving writing as well as some of the novels stock villians: wormwood khan (apparently the real name of an historical figure), shah ismail of persia (a coward on the battle field who flees, leaving the princess to be captured and taken west), and a plethora of medici's (always great as villians). yet none of these charcaters are developed in any way: they are just there to create obstacles for the princess to overcome and thus add more tales to her fantastic story.
however, there were some solid moments in the novel. the opening scene with the the golden pool of water and the traveler ariving in his colorful jacket (bringing up memories of joseph, another foreigner currying favor with a local ruler) held some of the best writing in the novel (check out the first paragraph of the book). another string scene was the memory palace. a woman who was enchanted, thus erasing her memory, and then had it replaced with a character's story of his travels in the ottoman empire.
but overall the novel never really gets off the ground. with all the colorful historical characters - as well as an enchantress (which is pretty much a carte blanche for an author, making plot that much easier) - rushdie is never able to fully reel in the reader; add to this his swift summary of an ending and you have an average novel, by an author who could probably write a great one.(less)

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Apr 21, 2008 Tina. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2008

Well, Rushdie can pretty much do no wrong by me. So, yes, five stars. He's just so good.
I hope I don't have to wait another three years for his new creation.

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Mar 10, 2009 Brian rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

It's hard for me to "review" a Rushdie novel, mainly because of the feeling I get each time I finish a particular text. It's difficult to describe, but perhaps analogy will shed some light.

I recall the first time I walked through the Pulitzer Foundation in St. Louis. Designed by Tadao Ando, the building is jarring at first. Entirely concrete, it initially screams heartless modernism. But then you see the Ellsworth Kelly piece running the length of the concrete stairway. And you lose your sense...more

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Feb 26, 2009 Alan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Salman Rushdie is in top form in this historical novel set in Mughal India and in Renaissance Florence. A mysterious Italian shows up at the court of the Mughal Emperor claiming to be his relation. How could this be? He has yellow hair and pale skin. Slowly the story unfolds.
Rushdie creates a dreamlike atmosphere in which magic can and occasional does happen but more often humans make their own choices and accept their own fates. It's a meditation on the nature of love, of imagination, of loyalt...more

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Mar 28, 2013 Antara Banerjee rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Rushdie has an amazing command over the English language and spins an improbable plot convincingly. His incredible way of blending historical facts of apparently unrelated societies into a string of stories in a singular plot is masterful. Though one might catch a whiff of the 'Thousand and One Nights' at the surface of the plot; but the complexity of the narrative and the brilliant execution override the inspiration, if at all.

The incredible flights of the unending story and return to the origi...more

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Feb 18, 2009 Bruce rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have yet to be disappointed by any of Salman Rushdie’s novels, and The Enchantress of Florence proved to be no exception. Rushdie’s language is wonderful, his metaphors sensual and evocative (the novel’s opening sentence is, “In the day’s last light the glowing lake below the palace-city looked like a sea of molten gold.”), his vocabulary delightful (“…[he:] move[d:] toward his goal indirectly, with many detours and divagations.”), his images rollicking with creativity (“The visionary, revelat...more

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Feb 11, 2009 Jon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What a wonderful book. A vast series of Arabian Nights tales, all linked, but with tantalizingly fluid chronology and meaning, with some rock-hard realistic sections in the Florence of the Medicis, although now that I think of it, those had plenty of enchantment too. The book is divided into a number of chapters, each titled on a separate initial page by its first few words. Some of them: "In the day's last light the glowing lake" "At dawn the haunting sandstone palaces" "And here again with bri...more

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Aug 25, 2009 Sandy Tjan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: long-ago-and-never-was, the-empire-writes-back, 2009, realismo-magico

This story has all the ingredients that should make it wonderful : Akbar, one of the most intriguing of Mughal emperors and his mysterious Fatehpur Sikri, Renaissance Florence in all its colorful glory under the Medicis, Machiavelli, Jannisarries, grim Ottoman sultans, epic battles, and even a murder or two. But somehow all these elements fail to gel into a cohesive story. The exotic locales and historical figures are ably rendered in lush, sometimes breathless prose, but they lack character tha...more

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Jun 02, 2008 Ruth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

good yarn.

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Jun 12, 2010 Bonnie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, world-lit-india

I'm surprised with the hatred I feel towards this book. I mean, it's Salman frickin' Rushdie, right? Isn't he some kind of literary god? I'm going to have to read his other books to see, because this one was trash.

I've read sexist books before. There are plenty of them out there, but usually I can glide over the sexist bits because overall the plot/characters/writing are good enough that I choose to ignore the fact that the women are horribly written (looking at you, Robert Jordan). But in this...more I'm surprised with the hatred I feel towards this book. I mean, it's Salman frickin' Rushdie, right? Isn't he some kind of literary god? I'm going to have to read his other books to see, because this one was trash.

I've read sexist books before. There are plenty of them out there, but usually I can glide over the sexist bits because overall the plot/characters/writing are good enough that I choose to ignore the fact that the women are horribly written (looking at you, Robert Jordan). But in this book I cared not a whit about any character, the plot was leaden and the writing was so stilted and musty I thought for a bit it had to be a translated book, despite the fact that I know Rushdie writes in English. Basically, every woman in this is either an insecure shrew (Machiavelli's wife, Akbar's wives) or an empty vessel that men project their sexual fantasies on to. The Enchantress herself is basically powered by hotness. Her magic is her beauty. The female servants in the book are literally their mistress' echo (Gulbadan's servant) or mirror (the enchantress' servant) thus devoiding them of the little personality that the other women get. The enchantress (whose second husband names her Angelique, a name she decides to share with her mirror/servant) decides to fulfill the fantasy that Budweiser ads promise in commercials, namely a threesome with hot, willing twins. Of course, there's never any jealousy between the enchantress and the mirror over the second husband, nor is the mirror ever shown to care that her mistress basically whores her out to the second husband. That would require them to be presented as human, when really the women in this book are ciphers for male fantasies. I mean, for goodness sake, the Mughal's favorite wife (who was an actual historical person) is a figment of her husband's imagination (who, despite this, is able to give him great sex). And don't even get me started on the part of the book when all the women in the Mughal's city became petty and quarrelsome with each other, but were cured when they were ordered to walk around naked all day and realized they were all flawed and human (uh...yeah...). The worst part of it all was that I got the feeling that Rushdie considered this book romantic. No wonder this guy has been married and divorced four times (that is probably a low blow, but the fact that he obviously does not understand women as human beings comes across in this book incredibly strongly).

Also, why the heck did he include a bibliography? This book is completely a book of magical realism and so much of it is detached from reality and obviously NOT historical, you can't really trust any of it to be historically accurate unless you're familiar with the period and can judge for yourself what is real and what is false. Is the bibliography just there to show off that he did in fact do research? (less)

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Aug 26, 2008 Tony rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-mainstream

Rushdie, Salman. THE ENCHANTRESS OF FLORENCE. (2008). **. It’s obvious that I’m not Rushdie’s targeted reader. This is a book of marvels, but not a marvelous book. It’s the story of a travelling salesman who journeys from Florence to India to the Mughal ruler Akbar’s court at Sikri (near Agra, and which I visited during my time in India). He supposedly has a “tale which only the emperor’s ear may hear.” The rest of the book provides the tale – a long, drawn-out series of marvels that demonstrate...more

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Jun 28, 2008 Nori rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love, love Rushdie's writing style. An excerpt from this appeared as a short story in the New Yorker a few months before the book was published, and just that passage about the emperor's deliberations on the meaning and usage of the first person singular vs. plural (not to mention the exertions and verbiage of the Chief Flatterer) reminded me just what I'd loved about Haroun & The Sea Of Stories.

This is a lovely one, a cute story involving generations and continents and benign passive sorc...more I love, love Rushdie's writing style. An excerpt from this appeared as a short story in the New Yorker a few months before the book was published, and just that passage about the emperor's deliberations on the meaning and usage of the first person singular vs. plural (not to mention the exertions and verbiage of the Chief Flatterer) reminded me just what I'd loved about Haroun & The Sea Of Stories.

This is a lovely one, a cute story involving generations and continents and benign passive sorcery and women and treachery and the new world and the golden age of Florence and men of war and human nature. There's a passage, coincidentally from that section that also appeared in the New Yorker, that sums up his close relationship with what it is to be simply human: "[P]eople were finally able to tell each other everything they had been obliged to keep unsaid for moths on end. 'I love you. My mother is dead. Your soup tastes good. If you do not pay me the money you owe me I will break your arms at the elbows. My darling, I love you too.' Everything." (p. 29)

It's vulgar, it's sweet, it's cute, it's in many ways timeless. It could easily be 2 or 3 times the length and be a proper Neal-Stephenson-esque novel, rich with detail and historical context and fleshing-out; Rushdie chooses to keep the details in the realm of fantasy, though, referencing actual historical moments but weaving them, in this relatively slim volume, into his overall narrative without disturbing the one for the other. History meets quotidian meets magic seamlessly: "The familiarity with which the supernatural occurrence was received was of course the consequence of such occurrences being normal at that time, before the real and unreal were segregated forever and doomed to live apart under different monarchs and separated legal systems." (p. 324)

I almost wish he'd taken the longer tack, but I suppose there's more of his out there that I haven't read yet, so I shouldn't complain.

Only 4 stars because it didn't sweep me off my feet in the way that a truly transcendent book can. But well worth the indulgence. More stories of this level of articulacy, understanding, and narrative are needed in the world.(less)

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May 27, 2008 Manu rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Naeem (especially)

While the lyrical fanaticism in praise of new literary upstarts has led some to sardonically emphasize the Sir in Sir Salman Rushdie (and assert his cultural whiteness to boot!), it is with books such as these that the much maligned author asserts his belief in the persistence of difference in even the most syncretic themes.

In so doing, while the author cannot silence his critics (indeed, that would be furtherest from his mind), he does succeed in reminding readers of a possibility where the Ea...more

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May 15, 2008 Meri rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: india, magic-realism

Another classic from an incomparable author! The Enchantress of Florence tells the story of Akbar, a Mughal emperor, who meets a traveler from Florence who claims to be his relative. As is typical with Rushdie's books, the plot is only the novel's skeleton, and the story weaves myth, history, and philosophy to open dialogue on the mingling of Eastern and Western culture, their differences, and what their histories tell us about our world today. It is set in the Florence and India of our collecti...more

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Jul 09, 2010 Julia Boechat Machado rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, historical-fiction, 2000s

"No princípio, eram três amigos: Antonino Argalia, Niccolò 'il Macchia' e Ago Vespucci. O mundo de sua meninice era uma floresta mágica. Então - Niccolò concluiu - depois de longos anos de feitos traiçoeiros contra seu país e seu Deus, que condenaram sua alma ao Inferno e fizeram seu corpo digno da roda de suplício, Argália, o paxá - Arcalia, Arqalia, al - Ghaliya, até seu nome se tornou uma mentira - voltou ao que não era mais seu lar."
Depois de ler Os Versos Satânicos e apreciar o livro sem re...more

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Jun 11, 2008 Leae rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I never got into this very well, It's not my type of story. I didn't appreciate how sexual it was, it seemed in the first half of the book there was too much swearing and whoreing around.
The second half of the book dropped the swearing and whores for a decent story thet was filled with philisophic pondering that to me never resolved into a colnclusion. Also I didn't like the end.
As far as the style he did a good job of blending fatastical reality and mythical history. I was never sure what was...more

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Dec 02, 2008 Brad rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A gorgeous, luscious narrative about a woman so beautiful that men cannot help but be captivated and consumed by her; a prose so heavy and rich, so lucid with beauty itself, that it is worthy of Qara Koz, the black eyed enchantress; and a cast of characters so bizarre and rich that the time spent with them during this delightful read doesn't seem to be nearly enough, Rushdie has achieved another success worthy of his honored name. Fantastic.

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Feb 20, 2011 Pearl rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book actually deserves a four most of the way but the ending was a disappointment. I love all of Rushdie books; with the magic and the surrealism, and the clever storytelling usually mixed with some sick sexual acts. While this book has all of that, it is more parody of Rushdie than him at his best. The ending was no twist at all but makes incest seem just trite. Nothing was flushed out to the fullest, making the book seem just a very long short story. Still a good story though, just not a...more

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Aug 06, 2011 Martin added it · review of another edition

Rushdie is a storyteller, and he has, once again, returned to tell a story about telling a story. But as his readers know, more important that the simple story line are the different layers to a story - and the question which is which. And of course the language, the poetry, the fabric out of which a storyteller weaves his very own world.
Very well, but what about this novel, now? Well: It's again a book like a story-teller's tale on a summer night at the campfire. It may not be my all-time favo...more

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Mar 04, 2009 Marci rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Of course, Salman Rushdie’s latest book is a pleasure. He is a beautiful, lyrical writer with a magnificent imagination and a global interest in culture and history. "The Enchantress of Florence" reflects his skill. I enjoyed hanging around the Mughal Emperor Akbar’s court, much endowed by Rushdie’s romantic fantasies, as the story of the mysterious Florentine visitor unfolded. Yes, East and West intersected back in the 16th century in ways which we mostly forget about, and the metaphor at the h...more

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Feb 05, 2009 Bookmarks Magazine added it · review of another edition

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." Rushdie combines his trademark mix of fantasy and reality in his exploration of East and West, power, love, loyalty, religion, humanism, and imagination. While many critics described the writing as sensual, evocative, and dreamy, and the portraits

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About Salman Rushdie

Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie is a novelist and essayist. Much of his early fiction is set at least partly on the Indian subcontinent. His style is often classified as magical realism, while a dominant theme of his work is the story of the many connections, disruptions and migrations between the Eastern and Western world.

His fourth novel, The Satanic Verses, led to protests from Muslims in several coun...more

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“If you were an atheist, Birbal," the Emperor challenged his first minister, "what would you say to the true believers of all the great religions of the world?" Birbal was a devout Brahmin from Trivikrampur, but he answered unhesitatingly, "I would say to them that in my opinion they were all atheists as well; I merely believe in one god less than each of them." "How so?" the Emperor asked. "All true believers have good reasons for disbelieving in every god except their own," said Birbal. "And so it is they who, between them, give me all the reasons for believing in none."

-- From "The Shelter of the World” — 68 people liked it

“Make as much racket as you like people. Noise is life and an excess of noise is a sign that life is good. There will be time for us all to be quiet when we are safely dead.” — 33 people liked it

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