Salman Rushdie: Knife - Meditations After an Attempted Murder, Vintage/ Jonathan Cape, 9781787334793, hardback

When the Fatwa was proclaimed over  Salman Rushdie for his "Satanic Verses", I was working at Penguin, witnessing this horrible, dangerous, unprecendented situation.  I was absolutely shocked  when an assassin  knifed him down years later on  August 11, 2022 during a speech engagement.

 "Knife" is Rushdie's account of this attack, the aftermath, his miraculous survival of 15 stab wounds, losing one eye permanently, his struggle through rehab and doubt whether he would ever regain his normal life.  It is a deeply personal, honest account of this traumatic event, brilliantly written, a testament to resilience , his mental and physical recovery aided by the love of his wife Eliza,  his children,  family and friends. I am so glad he made it and lived to write this fabulous book, one of the best I have read recently.

 Sean Lusk: A Woman of Opinion, Transworld / Penguin, 978085752528049, pub date 4. July 2024

I liked "A woman of Opinion" a lot, reads like a classic, thank you Transworld for the early netgalley.

 A historical, fictional novel, based on an extraordinary colorful life,  it tells the story of a trailblazer of a woman, Lady Mary Wortley Montague, a feminist, mother, European traveller, poet, first to introduce smallpox inocculation in England,  free spirit  and adventure seeker, born into 18th century aristocracy, elopes and marries Lord Edward Wortley whom she talkes into becoming an ambassador in Constantinople where she has her first taste of differences of culture and freedom.  Edward is smart enough to employ his wife's charme and  connections, later granting her freedom to lead her independent life abroad while staying friends throughout their unusual marriage. Her "Turkish Embassy Letters" are classics and Penguin Classics  have her "Selected  letters" still in print.

For me it was a fascinating and captivating read  about what life was like even for a smart, rich and well educated woman in the 18th century. We've come a very long way..... Like the richness of the cover. 

 J.C. Maetis: The Fortune Teller of Berlin, 9780241998908, paperback, upcoming November 24 publication date, Viking/ Penguin random House Uk 

Due to an early proof I was able to enjoy this very gripping historical thriller, one of my favorite genres, with a supposedly true background. Hitler was rumored to have used fortune tellers  and the novel centers around Edith Creutzen, a German clairvoyant who is coerced by the Nazis to leave Paris to  become Hitler's fortune teller. Secretly she has joined the French resistance feeding them highly confidential information,  walking a tight rope that could snap any time. It's a real page turner, well plotted, atmospheric,  very likeable protagonists  but also dark at times, portraying the terrible 1940ties war years but also the bravery of  ordinary people risking their lives for Hitler's down fall.