Victory City -- Salman Rushdie

<b><i>NEW YORK TIMES </i>BESTSELLER - The epic tale of a woman who breathes a fantastical empire into existence, only to be consumed by it over the centuries--from the transcendent imagination of Booker Prize-winning, internationally bestselling author Salman Rushdie</b> <p/><b><b>Salman Rushdie is one of <i>Time</i>'s 100 Most Influential People of the Year - </b>"<i>Victory City</i> is a triumph--not because it exists, but because it is utterly enchanting."--<i>The Atlantic<br></i></b><br><b>A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: <i>The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, Time, </i>NPR, <i>The Washington Post, </i>Chicago Public Library, <i>Polygon, The Globe and Mail, Bookreporter</i></b> <p/>In the wake of an unimportant battle between two long-forgotten kingdoms in fourteenth-century southern India, a nine-year-old girl has a divine encounter that will change the course of history. After witnessing the death of her mother, the grief-stricken Pampa Kampana becomes a vessel for a goddess, who begins to speak out of the girl's mouth. Granting her powers beyond Pampa Kampana's comprehension, the goddess tells her that she will be instrumental in the rise of a great city called Bisnaga--"victory city"--the wonder of the world. <p/>Over the next 250 years, Pampa Kampana's life becomes deeply interwoven with Bisnaga's, from its literal sowing from a bag of magic seeds to its tragic ruination in the most human of ways: the hubris of those in power. Whispering Bisnaga and its citizens