SALMAN Rushdie has released an extract from his new novel, his first new work since he was stabbed in the US this summer.
Yesterday, the New Yorker magazine published a section of “Victory City”, Rushdie’s 15th novel, on its website. It is called A Sackful of Seeds and is written in his signature rich style. Set in what is now India in the 14th century, the work tells of a group of women who committed suicide after their husbands were killed in a battle. It then focuses on a girl who was orphaned by the fire, and her quest to set up a new civilisation.
In August, Rushdie, inset, was stabbed on stage in New York state. He had been the subject of a fatwa for many years for his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses, which is inspired by the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. His tweet announcing the book was his first since his ordeal. Victory City is out in February.
Rachel Reeves on her long history with ‘tedious’ Matt Hancock
LABOUR’S Rachel Reeves says she’s known occasional MP and reality star Matt Hancock for too long. The pair started at the Bank of England at the same time and Hancock “was exactly the same,” Reeves told a Political Party audience last night. He was always in “the front row during training sessions, and the first to put his hand up. Really tedious”. Seems that she didn’t vote for him on I’m a Celeb.
A fish finger croissant? Sacre-bleu...
Why do British people seem have an overriding need to destroy all that is holy in this world.
— Julien Hoez (@JulienHoez) December 2, 2022
A fish finger and cheese croissant!
Mais pourquoi ?! Pourquoi avez-vous consciemment choisi de créer cette monstruosité culinaire ?!? pic.twitter.com/ohbnOtMp4F
A CROSS-Channel food fight has broken out ahead of England’s World Cup clash with France this Saturday. French journalist Julien Hoez was appalled to find a savoury croissant filled with fish fingers and cheese in a UK café. Hitting out at our “overriding need to destroy all that is holy”, Hoez posted online that the dish is a “monstruosité culinaire”, to general support. Maybe he would prefer a half-time pie?
You’ve got no fans
Writers are sharing memories of their worst-attended book signings. Jonathan Coe was on at a crime writers’ festival at the same time as Inspector Morse creator Colin Dexter. Coe thanked the one person who came to see him. They replied: “I’m Ian Rankin and I was supposed to be introducing you.”
Cocktails and cigar awards
Presenters Abbey Clancy, Laura Whitmore and Angela Scanlan had a Malfy cocktail at 11 Cadogan Gardens in Chelsea last night.
Actors Letitia Wright and Tamara Lawrance showed their new film The Silent Twins in Soho, and Hugh Bonneville sang carols for a blood cancer charity in Notting Hill.
In Canary Wharf, Nancy Dell’Olio, Tom Parker Bowles and Ranald Macdonald were at the Vina Carmen Boisdale Cigar Smoker of the Year Awards. Dell’Olio, who dated former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson, said she is boycotting the Qatar World Cup.
