Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes

“Born at the stroke of midnight at the exact moment of India’s independence, 1,001 children all of whom are endowed with unusual gifts, inextricably linked to each other…”

The title intrigued me and compelled me to read this book. I knew the name of the author, more for the dire trouble he once found himself in than anything else. Not that I knew much about it, as I am not a political animal. I remember him being a hunted man, and that is about it.

This story is about the special children of India, born at the time of their countries struggle for independence. Two children are swapped at birth for some odd political protest, and as I began to read I was not expecting a magical fairy tale, with intricately woven threads lifting the work into another genre entirely.

Beautifully written, conjuring all the magic and fantasy of India, it was the perfect allegory for the subsequent struggle and birth of a nation. The perfect history lesson, where you learn all there is to know from the inside out.
Rushdie’s words subtly remind us of all the ways we strive to rise above the futility of most of our lives, transcending the ordinary.

They say that Midnight’s Children is a classic example of Magic Realism, although I’m not sure I fully understand that. All I know is I loved reading it. The characters are memorable and the story sweeps from touchingly funny to melancholy and back again.
Every author should be remembered for at least one piece of work, and this is surely Salman Rushdie’s finest.

Sir Salman Rushdie is the author of many novels including Grimus, Midnight’s Children, Shame, The Satanic Verses, The Moor’s Last Sigh, The Ground Beneath Her Feet, Fury and Shalimar the Clown. He has also published works of non-fiction including The Jaguar Smile, Imaginary Homelands, The Wizard of Oz and, as co-editor, The Vintage Book of Short Stories.