A hijacked jumbo jet bound for London blows apart high above the English Channel. Two figures, Indian actors of opposing sensibilities, Gibreel and Saladin, fall to Earth, and are washed up on an English beach. Soon curious changes occur -Gibreel seems to have acquired a halo, while Saladin grows hooves and bumps at his temples. They are transformed into living symbols of what is angelic and evil. This is the initial act in an odyssey that merges the actual with the imagined. The angel Gibreel -- Mahound -- Ellowen Deeowen -- Ayesha -- A city visible but unseen -- Return to Jahilia -- The angel Azraeel -- The parting of the Arabian Sea -- A wonderful lamp.

Rushdie Salman

The satanic verses : a novel