- Hardcover: 192 pages
- Publisher: Macmillan Distribution Limited (Aug 30 2000)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0747547025
- ISBN-13: 978-0747547020
- Product Dimensions: 20.6 x 15 x 3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 499 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,735,972 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
The unnamed narrator of this promising debut is in many respects a typical teenager--self-obsessed and critical of her elders, projecting a mixture of disdain, irreverence and na‹vet‚. She's a romantic dreamer, convinced that fate will miraculously make her a movie star, although she has never acted and lives in a small village in India. Meanwhile, she views her own life as through a movie lens, comparing herself to Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly. But when her father, an alcoholic bully, insists she enter into an arranged marriage with a man she finds repulsive, the narrator takes action. She has the help of her sister's husband's grandfather, a wise old man who is dismissed as senile. With his connivance, she runs away to New Delhi and takes a job as a maid to the troubled Aziz family. This gives Balasubramanyam the chance to portray the lives of exploited servants and the rich, supercilious expatriate colony, a task he performs with humor and dexterity. It's unfortunate, however, that he makes Mr. Aziz and his wife, Ms. Marceau, so eccentric that they're virtually caricatures: the narrator's life in their home fails to seem credible. Yet Balasubramanyam is agile in depicting the narrator's gradual realization that she is not alone in her self-deception about her role in life, and that all people wear masks to disguise their real selves. (Feb.)Forecast: This novel won the 1999 Betty Trask Prize in England, and Balasubramanyam will assuredly take his place among the talented Indian writers of the decade. Though it lacks the power of The Death of Vishnu and The Obedient Father, it could be swept up in the groundswell of current novels whose characters have roots in India.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.From Library Journal
This perceptive debut novel, winner of the 1999 Betty Trask Prize (awarded by Britain's Society of Authors), is perched skillfully between the real and fantasy lives of a young South Indian girl. With her long-suffering mother and brother, the unnamed girl endures the tyranny of a raging alcoholic father. Inspired by romantic Hollywood matinees, she determines that film stardom is her way out. When she is confronted with an arranged marriage to a rascal, she decides to pursue her dream by running away to The City, where employment as a maid throws her into a reality as harsh as the one she left. Balasubramanyam tells his coming-of-age story with compassion and humanity, showing a thorough understanding of his characters and a disturbing view of the narrator's oppressive world. The prose is light and quite humorous, masking the astonishing depth and subtlety of this work. Essential for those who enjoy contemporary Indian fiction and highly recommended for larger public libraries. Zaheera Jiwaji, Edmonton, Alberta
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant Writing,
By "panicorfu" (Warsaw, Poland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: In Beautiful Disguises (Hardcover)
This is one of the most captivating and charming books I've read in ages.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Experience of life, damn it!,
By "fatthelma" (Cambridge, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: In Beautiful Disguises (Paperback)
A story about a young girl, who despite the cultural restrictions, thinks as freely as any other her age. Her naivete and innocence are evident in her 'experience of life' in The City. And yet these qualities are not over-exaggerated, but are instead set perfectly against the part of her dutiful to her weak older brother, Ravi and her parents. Dutiful not in any submissive sense, in fact quite the opposite. She is the oldest despite being the youngest of three. This book amazingly captures her passion for life and self-belief, and her strength shines through. I loved every minute of this book. The ending was frustrating, but at the same time strangely fitting. It was an easy read without being superficial, rather, deceptively simple. Rajeev Balasubramanyam definitely has a gift, often making me feel as though I was this girl, tapping into thoughts such as when she was looking at the elephant in the zoo, feeling helpless, but hoping her presence would take away his pain. This book is a masterpiece, and the only reason I wrote this review was because I couldn't let it go unsaid.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Artistically narrated but disappointingly unreal.,
By
This review is from: In Beautiful Disguises (Paperback)
The Indian name of the author had drawn me to this book, the story of an 18 year old Indian girl from the south who runs away to The City in the north to escape the marriage arranged by her drunken father and ends up as a maid in the household of Mr Aziz and Ms Marceau. As I continued reading more about this stereotype of an abused Indian female deserving our sympathy and needing redemption, it dawned on me that there was nothing Indian about the narrative. It became evident to me that the author had no first hand knowledge of contemporary India. In dealing with the escapades of the free-spirited teenage girl, the author fails to address the issues of the status of women and the cultural restrictions on them. He does not know the barriers and taboos dictated by the caste system which is still alive in the minds of Indians. The diversity of cultures and the difficulties posed by the variety in languages do not seem to concern the author. The teenage girl after traveling alone for 24 hours by train from a Kannada speaking town in the south reaches The City without any trouble and joins the servants of the Aziz family to begin work immediately. The Aziz family is only half Indian, drinking wine and eating steak. But the servant women drinking champagne with the masters, smoking cigarettes and taking day-offs also are unlike servants in any Indian household. The back drop of India with all its complexities does not suit well to the credibility of the events narrated. Mr Rajeev is successful in capturing the emotions, feelings and inner thoughts of the teenage girl though he gives very little detail while explaining external events and situations. This throws the reader often into confusion. After reading a 246 page novel one is left without even the name of the heroine, let alone the languages she knew.
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