Beautiful Thing

Reviews / Votes

Beautiful Thing is a brilliant debut that catapults Sonia Faleiro straight to the top of the premier division of Indian writers of non-fiction . . . Beautiful Thing opens up a hidden world with startling insight and intimacy, and strangely is both a tragic monument to the abused bar girls of Bombay and a celebration of their amazing resilience and spirit. -- William Dalrymple, author of Nine Lives Faleiro writes her way into the bloodstream with this mesmeric book, fashioned with heart and enviable acuity. A shocking, funny and memorable ride. -- Nikita Lalwani, author of Gifted A rare glimpse into dismissed lives. Sonia Faleiro brings a novelist's eye for detail and a depth of empathy to her work. This is a magnificent book of reportage that is also endowed with all the terror and beauty of art. -- Kiran Desai, Booker prize-winning author of The Inheritance of Loss . . . With her we hear, we see, we feel and finally know the world behind that door: a world that was unimaginable before Faleiro drew us there, but is unforgettable when the last page is turned, the last beaded curtain drawn to a close. -- Gregory David Roberts, author of Shantaram A riveting expose ... For a book that's so short, Faleiro manages to pack a lot in: pimps, gangsters, transvestites, cops and madams. But its most outstanding quality to my eye is the window it offers on the widespread sexual repression that exists in India today, and the murky middle-class morality that rules it ... The real triumph of Beautiful Thing is how Faleiro dismantles the grand tradition of marriage in India, exposing it for what it is - a form of slavery for a large percentage of women who are bound to their husbands for food and the roofs over their heads, but rarely ever for love. * * Observer * * Throws the doors open on Mumbai's sex trade. * * Independent * * A harrowing and heart-breaking account . . . a tour de force of reportage, whose depth, insight and resonance make it the equal of the best fiction. [Faleiro] has portrayed the tragedy of this world without a shred of sentimentality. In this she has done justice to her characters for whom sentimentality - like romance, love and honesty - are luxuries they can rarely afford. * * Sunday Times * * [Leela's] rich character is sparked to vivid life in a highly coloured work of brilliant literary reportage. * * Times * * A gripping and intimate portrayal of the lives of the women who work in that industry. She manages to evoke shock, rage and laughter...this book is a moving testament to the girls like [Leela]. * * Literary Review * * Saved from doominess by [Faleiro's] striking empathy, sensitivity, and sharp ear. * * Independent on Sunday * * Beautiful Thing is a meticulous, moving account of the battle for social mobility and personal freedom in Bombay. * * Daily Telegraph * * In this tour de force of heartrending reportage, Sonia Faleiro shows the ugly brutality which has torn away the foundations of so many lives. ... [an] excellent investigative study of Bombay's dance bars * * Independent * * Useless to describe the pathos and singular power of this book. Beautiful Thing is, quite simply, one of the finest books on Bombay ever written. * * Spectator * * The rich, gaudy tapestry that Faleiro weaves is a reminder that some of the best recent books about India, such as Suketu Mehta's Maximum City, also about Mumbai, give us the big picture by focusing on the microcosm. * * Financial Times * * Beautiful Thing is not for the faint-hearted. The stories of the girls Faleiro meets are as brutal as anything fiction could conjure. * * The Scotsman * * Remarkable ... the only hard thing about Beautiful Thing will be putting it down once you've started. ... Truly one of a kind * * Curious Book Fans * * A revealing and important book * * Sunday Times * * fast-paced, conversational, high-octane -- Iain Finlayson * * The Times * * the contradictions of Leela's hedonistic, heartbreaking life as a badass Lolita crossed with a naively knowing Sweet Charity are thoroughly and empathetically explored -- Iain Finlayson * * The Times * * Rich character is sparked to vivid life in a highly coloured work of brilliant literary reportage -- Iain Finlayson * * The Times * * tour de force of reportage * * Sunday Times Culture * * Faleiro does not flinch... even the vilest and most crime-infested alleys of Bombay are no deterrent to her -- Ian Thomson * * Spectator * * Beautiful Thing is quite simply one of the finest books on Bombay ever written -- Ian Thomson * * Spectator * * The last 50 pages read like a thriller... that left this reader wanting more * * Sunday Business Post * * Faleiro captures the detail and danger of Bombay exquisitely, testament to her intensive research * * The Scotsman * * demonstrates that... one person's life can effectively tell the story of thousands * * The Scotsman * *