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Victory City

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Victory City

By: Salman Rushdie
Narrated by: Sid Sagar
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

She will breathe a new empire into life – but all worlds can escape their creator…

In the wake of an unimportant battle between two long-forgotten kingdoms, a nine-year-old girl has a divine encounter that will change the course of history. Pampa Kampana becomes a vessel for a goddess, who tells her that she will be instrumental in the rise of a great city called Bisnaga, ‘victory city’.

Over the next two hundred and fifty years, Pampa Kampana’s life becomes deeply interwoven with Bisnaga’s as she attempts to make good on the task that the goddess set for her: to give women equal agency in a patriarchal world. But all stories have a way of getting away from their creator, and Bisnaga is no exception.

‘Full of adventure… A celebration of the power of storytelling’ GUARDIAN

‘Mesmerising’ ELIF SHAFAK, author of The Island of Missing Trees

‘A total pleasure to read’ SUNDAY TIMES

‘One of the planet’s greatest writers’ EVENING STANDARD

‘A triumph… Enthralling’ I

©2023 Salman Rushdie (P)2023 Penguin Audio Fantasy Magic Magical Realism World Literature Tear-jerking Royalty

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All stars
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It's a long complicated tale but WOW! What a well constructed and well told story. It grips you from the start and doesn't let go. Like a fantastic roller-coaster ride. Really unusual story too.

Engaging all the way through

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This is fable about the power of narrative storytelling.
Pampa Kampana, the Indian storyteller-queen at its heart, believes that “the miraculous and the everyday are two halves of a single whole.” Over four decades, her story unfolds with never a dull moment, enriched by Rushdie’s extraordinary gift

A delightful, colourful ode to historical storytelling

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The marvel of Salman Rushdie’s writing genius shines bright in this period drama belonging to the 14th-16th centuries and yet so contemporary.

A fascinating tale - wish it never ended

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Another wonderful Rushdie book - philosophical and magical in the garb of an exotic 'fairy story. As with all of his books it draws you in, won't let you go and then ends too soon.'

another wonderful Rushdie book

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Excellent: great story, full of humanity, saga and humour. Well read by Sid Sagar. Not quite as good as Midnight’s Children or Satanic Verses but if you love a good yarn, you’ll love this book.

Everything you’d expect from Mr Rushdie.

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A great act of storytelling of the great myths of India. A great story.
.

The birth of a nation

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For fans of Salman Rushdie's magical realism (and I am one!) this is a new delight, particularly as the reader is really excellent.

Very Rushdie!

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This is definitely the most accessible book that I have read from this author. Pampas story is told by mixing history and magical realism (without going overboard) and every other character, event, place, ect, I found well developed and fascinating.

Victory City

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The perfect combination of soothing voice and excellent tone made this v enjoyable to listen too in what is probably for most listeners a difficult story with its span of time and tricky names. Well done. I will look out for other books narrated by the reader. Equal to Chiewetel Ejiofor in my view.

Great writing with difficult names pronounced to perfection made a seamless experience.

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I have enjoyed other books by Rushdie more. I understand the urge to write about the diverse and pluralist history of India just now, in this historic moment. And it is great to see women's point of view represented, also in the works of male writers. This is a book about why it is so difficult to bring equality, pluralism, and justice as widespread values that underpin society. The answer, quite often, is the patriarchy and the greed that feeds on power. The book is quite good at describing how the city of Bisnaga and its society morphs and flows from one dominant ideology to the next. What is missing for me is context - what is real, what is magical, in this magical realism story. And if the critique of the author is about the use of invented histories to gain power today, then why write this story in particular in magical realism form? And if it is to be about inclusivity and the common people, why is it entirely set in the court?

History is complex, and a pendulum

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