The Ground Beneath Her Feet

The Ground Beneath Her Feet is a novel written by Salman Rushdie. Published in 2000, it is a variation on the Orpheus/Eurydice myth with rock music replacing Orpheus' lyre. The book, while at its core detailing the love of two men, Ormus Cama and Umeed Merchant (the narrator of the story), for the same woman, Vina Apsara, provides a background and alternate history to the entire 1950s-90s period of the growth of rock music.

Trivia

1. A large road near Apollo Bundar (where the Camas lived) is named "Madam Cama Road".
2. The name of the photographic agency which Umeed is invited to join, the Nebuchadnezzar company, is inspired by the Magnum photographic agency. The inside joke is that both names are terms used for champagne bottle sizes, the Magnum being 1.5 litres, while the Nebuchadnezzar is 15 litres.
3. The character of Ormus Cama seems to be heavily inspired from John Lennon. While Lennon appears in the book as a separate character, several of Ormus' traits (especially his love of making bread at home) seems to be inspired from him. Ormus' death - immediately outside his apartment building, shot at close range with a small pistol - is also very similar to Lennon's. Also, Lennon's last words are said to be "yes", when a police officer asked him if he knew who he was on the way to the hospital. Ormus' last words were "Yes. Yes, mother, I know", when asked the same question.
4. Vina Apsara dies, in the first chapter of the book, on the same day that the fatwa against Rushdie was issued - February 14, 1989.