Devorah Rose, a socialite, launches an attack against the author on Twitter accusing him of being unchivalrous'
Devorah Rose, a socialite, launches an attack against the author on Twitter accusing him of being unchivalrous'u00a0At the age of 64, he could be forgiven for hoping for a quiet life. But literary ladies' man Salman Rushdie has found himself at the centre of a very public row with a young American socialite. The four-times married author has become embroiled in a dispute with New York girl Devorah Rose, who claims he unceremoniously dumped her and says she has Facebook messages that prove that he is 'unchivalrous'.
Rushdie's love fatwa: Devorah Rose was upset after Salman Rushdieu00a0
claimed that they were not a couple. The Satanic Verses author is believed to have met Devorah Rose, the editor of the glossy Social Life magazine, at a party in the Hamptons and later to have joined her at a number of intimate dinners in Manhattan. But his insistence that there is no romantic relationship between the two of them, led to a scathing response from Rose, who would only give her age as in her 20s.
Devorah RoseShe posted a message on Twitter reading "Never let someone paint you in a negative light" and linking it to an apparent series of Facebook messages over the summer where Salman asked if she would like to go for a drink.
He later sent her a Facebook message in August, appearing to gently end a relationship.
"I'm sorry to say that I don't feel able to pursue what we only just began," he wrote. I have to confess that I haven't really recovered from the recent collapse of a two-year relationship. I can't help seeing that our lives and worlds (and ages) are very different, and hard to reconcile. I think you're a dynamic, passionate, extraordinary person and I apologise for backing away so suddenly."
But despite his regretful message, the pair appear to have met up since. After a rendezvous at the restaurant Indochine last week, Rose tweeted a picture of herself and a pleased-looking Sir Salman, imploring him to "come back to the states soon so that we can have a do-over".
In prose that fell somewhat short of his acclaimed stories, he wrote: "You look so gorgeous and hottt!"
But when the tweet prompted questions about the pair's relationship, Salman firmly denied any romantic link, saying he was "mortified" at the suggestion.
Rose struck back immediately saying: "Rushdie's intentions, like his ridiculous retort, is the definition of unchivalrous behaviour. My tweet was friendly, his response was embarrassingly out of proportion, especially when he invited me to several dinners."