“Knife” is the book telling Rushdie journey of physical recovery after the attack and coming to terms with what happened. And that’s where the book shines. Because you see, Rushdie could have written a long rant on how religious intolerance is destroying the world and the injustice of living with a death sentence hanging over your head for something you wrote. But instead, he wrote a love story.

The main character of the book, other than himself, is not the attacker (who he refuses to name) or the people who wanted him dead, but his wife, the also writer Rachel Eliza Griffiths. He describes how she, her family and Rushdie’s sons stayed by his side during the most critical moments, when not even the doctors thought he was going to make it. As she wrote it herself for The Guardian, “Ours was a love story, not an attempted murder story”.

He retells the story of how they met, the life they had built together and how happy they make each other. As he describes her strength, character and unconditional love towards him, you can’t help but fall in love with her a little bit. So Rushdie ended up performing this surprising magic trick in which a book about a terrible and violent attack born out of hate and intolerance leaves the reader in the end with a little bit more love towards the world. And it’s hard to demonize a man who just wants to live in peace with his loved one.

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