Overview
- The English edition was released on November 4, 2025, and the German edition, Die elfte Stunde, publishes on November 12 through Penguin with a translation by Bernhard Robben.
- The five-story collection marks Rushdie’s return to fiction since the 2022 stabbing that left him with lasting injuries, including the loss of an eye.
- Rushdie told CBS the book’s focus on death grew from his age and his near-fatal experience, framing the stories as a late-life reckoning.
- The collection blends magical realism with unusually direct autobiographical elements across India, Britain and the United States, and includes allegorical reflections on free speech.
- Context for the release includes the May 2025 sentencing of attacker Hadi Matar to 25 years in prison, a development frequently noted in coverage of the new book.