Salman inspired by strong women
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WHEN I first met Salman Rushdie two years ago, I half expected him to be one of those boring, puffed-up, pseudo-intellectual types who bombard you with complex literary analysis and left you feeling, well, slightly inferior.
But never judge a Booker winner by his cover. He was witty and charismatic, a really cool guy, as he is today when we meet to discuss his latest novel, The Enchantress Of Florence.
It has been a difficult two years for the 60-year-old author, largely due to his divorce from his beautiful fourth wife, Padma Lakshmi, 26 years his junior.
His latest book centres on powerful women in the 16th century, most notably a lost Mughal princess whose beauty is such that men fall at her feet – with often destructive consequences.
However, the heroine was not inspired by his ex-wife, he insists.
“It’s set in a different world. I really wasn’t thinking of any contemporary models at all. Not all beautiful women are my ex-wife.”
Yet when Lakshmi asked him for a divorce in 2007, he found it hugely difficult to concentrate on writing.
“I remember, during the worst moment of the divorce, it was difficult to write anything, but like many writers, I have always prided myself on my self-discipline and that’s what got me through.
“In the end, plunging into this world of 400 years ago, which I actually loved being in, was quite a good antidote to everything else happening in my life.”
The novel tells the story of a European traveller who arrives at the court of the Mughal emperor, Akbar, claiming to be the child of a lost princess and beguiles the emperor with his tales of this great beauty believed to possess powers of enchantment and sorcery.
His theme of powerful women was not difficult for him to research, he says with a smile.
“I’ve always been interested in strong female characters as I’ve known quite a lot in my time. I come from a family in which there’s a lot of them. I have three sisters and no brothers. My mother and my aunt were, in many ways, forceful characters.”
Last year had its plus points for the Bombay-born author. He received a knighthood, although he doesn’t use the Sir Salman title often, he says.
The former ad man’s writing career got off to a slow start, but it was his second book, Midnight’s Children, which made his name. The 1981 novel won the Booker Prize and was later awarded the “Booker of Bookers”, the best novel to have won the Booker Prize in its first 25 years.
But it was The Satanic Verses which threw him into the limelight in 1989, a book which provoked an Islamic fatwa ordering his death. For nine years he had to be accompanied by Special Branch officers wherever he went.
His next work is a children’s book, a sequel to Haroun And The Sea Of Stories.
“My younger son (aged 10) is demanding one, so maybe I have to. The thing about children’s books is that the readers’ response is by far the most enjoyable you’ll ever get. The letters I got after Haroun were the most fun to read that I’ve ever had. Children just tell you exactly what they think.
“I remember a young girl wrote to me from America and said, in a very authoritative way, ‘Kindly write back at once because when I grow up I intend to be a writer myself or else a world leader’.
“I wrote back right away. I thought I’d better write back because she’ll probably be president in 20 years.”
Seems he just can’t get away from bossy women.
The Enchantress Of Florence, by Salman Rushdie, is published by Jonathan Cape, priced £16.99.
