It’s a good day for readers when a new Salman Rushdie novel hits the shelves. The Enchantress of Florence is Rushdie’s 11th novel following Shalimar the Clown in 2006. It’s an absorbing story recounting the lives of a, “Yellow haired liar from foreign parts…” and an existentialist Mughal Emperor Akbar the Great, who, “Did not have the answers, but the questions themselves felt like answers.” Akbar ruminates on culture, society and civilisation and their destinies between the East and West.

Rushdie spent a better part of the 1990s looking over his shoulder after his novel; The Satanic Verses (1988) unleashed a disproportionate global outrage so great that it continues to befuddle today. Yet, the cultural insanity The Satanic Verses inspired is not an isolated occurrence of anti-literary-lunacy; Rushdie is in good company, Anna Politkovskaya, 2006, Abdelkader Alloula, 1994, Larry Flynt, 1978, Onat kutlar, 1995, Theo Van Gogh, 2004, Jules Verne, 1886 and Hitoshi Igarashi the Japanese translator of the Satanic Verses who was murdered in 1991.

Rushdie creates an imaginary and convincing narrative of his grandest character yet, the contemplative Akbar the Great. The mysterious arrival of the ‘yellow haired European’ becomes an opportunity for Akbar to exercise his intellect. The novel is interlaced with parallel stories that combine and create a rich and vibrant narrative with magic, chance, twists and unexpected outcomes. Like a Robert Altman film, you are engaged in them all.

Akbar the Great reminds this reader of Rushdie himself. The author/emperor lives a precarious and paranoid life. Caught between being both the hunter and the hunted. Akbar, abandoned at 14 months of age is reared in Kandahar where he is taught to fight and kill and take back what is rightfully his. Like Rushdie, Akbar regains his status; yet, they (Akbar/Rushdie) understand that survival relies on a constant internal dialogue, “Cunning, humility, and good peripheral vision.” In The Enchantress of Florence Rushdie’s menagerie of characters inhabit the grandeur and fragrances of 16th century Royal India. Akbar’s court is connected directly with the turmoil of Renaissance Florence, where the royal bloodline is linked to the legacy Qara Koz.

The yellow haired liar from foreign parts, Mogor dell’Amore, being one of his many aliases, arrives at Akbar’s court in the guise of England’s new ambassador to the Mughal court. He carries a letter sealed and written by Queen Elizabeth herself. Akbar takes Mogor partially into his confidence and uses the diversions of games, power, enchantment, charm and treachery to discover what Mogor’s intentions are. Those around Akbar think little of the English and their virgin queen, “Because no man would wish to lie with so cold a fish.” Court counsellors view Akbar’s ideas of a shared global empire that unites east and west as the ravings of a madman. Akbar is a lonely man, aloof but an extremely astute and intelligent man who with the vigor of his intellect torments his minions (again like Rushdie). Initially Akbar treats Mogor as an equal with whom he thinks he can spend time philosophising about nature and existence. However, his feelings begin to change when Mogor’s identity comes into question.

Rushdie writes about identity, war, lust, love, cultural integration and witchcraft [AKA language].“Witchcraft requires no potions, familiar spirits or magic wands. Language upon a silvered tongue affords enchantment enough.” In The Enchantress of Florence Rushdie’s uses his ‘silvered tongue’ masterfully. The enchantment of men by Qara Koz reveals the toxic puissance of the flesh.

Akbar’s, “Growing disillusion with God,” feeds on the anxieties of his subjects. Rushdie like Akbar is also an emperor of creation. Akbar’s search for meaning leads him to create a fantasy wife, Jodhabai. His creation so real his, “Fellow wives, resented her. How could the mighty emperor prefer the company of a woman who did not exist?” Akbar’s was “A new kind of king was on the throne, and that nothing in the world would remain the same.” They thought the king mad (what king/despot isn’t?). However, they figured that if their king, “Wished to be a little nutty then who were they to argue”

Rushdie’s clarity of intellect, appreciation of language and command of narrative has produced an enjoyable and meaningful story. In other words a great read by this generous author. The Enchantress of Florence can appear daunting at first but subsequent readings reveal how intricate and fascinating his story is.