The Herald - The Herald Magazine
A magical feminist tale from Rushdie
Pick of the best new fiction and non-fiction releases
FICTION
UNTAMED SHORE Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Jo Fletcher Books, £16.99 (ebook £6.99) From historical fantasy to gothic horror, Silvia Moreno-Garcia remains unbound by genre. The novel Untamed Shore is her dip into (almost) contemporary noir, a gripping murder mystery set against a backdrop of shark hunting and smalltown melodrama in late 1970s Baja California. Eighteen-year-old Viridiana does not fit in and, hoping to escape her stuffy fishing village, she is drawn to the glamour of three American tourists who need a translator for their summer in Mexico. A cloak-anddagger tragedy soon befalls the group but, such is her desire for excitement, that Viridiana cannot resist the urge to stick around, even as the sharks start to circle. Emotions and stakes are high as the morally ambiguous Viridiana leads us through a fantastically evocative and suspenseful thriller.
VICTORY CITY
Salman Rushdie
Jonathan Cape, £22 (ebook £10.99)
9/10
Musician Jarvis Cocker summarises it best when he says that reading Sir Salman Rushdie’s novel, Victory City, will “make you feel the same excitement you felt at discovering the Brothers Grimm when you were a child – but it’s for grown-ups!” It is an apt description for
Rushdie’s latest offering, which was written before he was attacked in New York last year. A young girl, named Pampa Kampana, becomes a vessel for a goddess following an encounter as a child. Her story becomes intertwined with the rise of a city called Bisnaga – otherwise known as “victory city”. There is a magical thread of storytelling running through the veins of each character we meet in this book, with many of the experiences and themes prompting the reader to mentally check them against the topics in the author’s prolific vault.
There is a lightness of pace and tone which makes the novel a joy to read, but as ever, the layered meanings behind the words and descriptions don’t go unnoticed. The realist feminist tale ends with a powerful sign-off, which will resonate even after the reader has turned the final page.