The Booker competition is open to citizens of the British Commonwealth and the Republic of Ireland. The winner, who will receive about $71,000, will be announced on Oct. 14.  Mr. Rushdie, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth this summer, was the winner of the Booker of Bookers (which celebrated the prize’s 25th anniversary) in 1993 and the Best of the Booker Prize (which celebrated its 40th) in July, each for his 1981 novel, “Midnight’s Children.” But “The Enchantress of Florence” had received some withering reviews in the American press and was a reminder that it has been many years since Mr. Rushdie has had a critical success.  On this year’s Booker shortlist he was passed over for a group of finalists from India, Britain, Australia and Ireland. Two, Aravind Adiga and Steve Toltz, are first-time novelists.  “The White Tiger” by Mr. Adiga is the dark story of class struggle told by an Indian man who murders his employer. It was published in the United States by Free Press. Mr. Adiga, 33, a native of India who spent part of his childhood in Australia, is a former correspondent for Time magazine in India.  “The Secret Scripture” by Sebastian Barry, published in the United States by Viking Adult, tells of an elderly woman and her psychiatrist who write parallel accounts of their meetings and their tragic pasts in modern-day Ireland. Mr. Barry, 53, was born in Dublin and has been shortlisted once before.  “Sea of Poppies” by Amitav Ghosh, to be published in the United States next month by Farrar, Straus & Giroux, is set at the brink of the Opium Wars and tells of a ship full of sailors, Indians and Westerners, who form a bond and begin a long-lasting dynasty. Mr. Ghosh, 52, grew up in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India, and wrote “The Glass Palace.”  “The Clothes on Their Backs,” written by Linda Grant and published in Britain by Virago Press, is the story of family and morality told by a narrator who was raised by Jewish refugees from Hungary. Ms. Grant, 57, was born in Liverpool and lives in London.  “The Northern Clemency” by Philip Hensher tells of the ties between two families who live in Sheffield in the 1970s and ’80s. It was published in Britain by Fourth Estate and is scheduled to be published in February by Alfred A. Knopf. Mr. Hensher, 43, is the author of five novels and a collection of short stories.  “A Fraction of the Whole,” by Mr. Toltz, was published in the United States by Spiegel & Grau. It tells of a son whose attempt to understand his dead father takes him from Paris cafes to the Thai jungle to the Australian bush. Mr. Toltz, 36, was born in Australia, but has since lived in Montreal, Vancouver, Barcelona and Paris.
The six finalists for the Man Booker Prize were announced on Tuesday in London with the traditional fanfare. But this year the shortlist attracted more attention for who was not on it.