Shalimar the Clown

If you want a good read, that's going to take you to Kashmir, Strasbourg and California, from the war years to the present day, a story of passion, daring adventures, deceit, love, hate, I recommend you read Shalimar the Clown, by Salman Rushdie. I've read a few of his books (I haven't read "The Satanic Verses", though), and I think he's a very good story-teller. This book is definitely the best of his books that I've read.

Before I picked up the first Salman Rushdie book I read (The Midnight Children), I thought it was going to be heavy-going, heavy on religion and stuff, but I discovered to my surprise and pleasure, that it was just a good story, and I wanted to read more. I've also read "The Moor's Last Sigh" (I can't remember much about it, so I think it was a bit too convoluted a story) and "The Ground Beneath Her Feet", which I enjoyed. By the way, if you know the U2 song "The Ground Beneath Her Feet" - that's a song about the book, or rather a song around the story in the book.