Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie

I must be on an Indian jag. I have always wanted to read something by Salman Rushdie. Somehow his other books seemed too big and daunting. The main characters in this book are Max Ophuls, an Ambassador at one time to India, Booyni Kaul, his lover, India Ophuls, their love child, and Shalimar the Clown who is Booyni's husband. The settings are in Kashmir. England and California. The book is well written but takes awhile to absorb the many names and tensions between Hindi and Muslims, Anglos and Indians, etc. This is another tragic story about poor Indians who get caught up in the callous life of the rich. Boony leaves her husband for Max and comes back disgraced and slightly crazy. I think what impressed me the most was how Salman could write about historical events from a European perspective and from an Indian perspective. Ironically this book has a chauffeur also murdering his boss. Must be a popular Indian theme! I might even take up one of his other books now.