In Beautiful Disguises
Language: English
Published by Bloomsbury, London, 2000
- Softcover
- Used
Seller: Riley Books, Oswaldtwistle, United KingdomRiley Books
AbeBooks seller since July 11, 2002
Condition: Used - Very good
£ 6.00
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
Bright and clean. Slight reading crease to spine. Life may not be easy for a sixteen year old living in a small town in South India, especially when she's blessed with a family like hers: an over-dutiful sister; a brother who watches TV as an occupation; a father who drinks and bullies his family and a silent mother. Unless, of course, there are ways of escape. Insulated by her dreams and Audrey Hepburn movies, she observes her family with critical detachment. Until the inevitable marriage is arranged for her and she runs away to The City. Secretly hoping she will metamorphose into Holly Golightly, she enters into the service of Mr Aziz as a maid. Here she falls in with the other members of his household: Raju, the servant with the heart of a revolutionary; Maneka the maid who disappears each night; and the seductive Armand, Mr Aziz's arrogant, but tempting, son. She embraces this brave new world (acquiring a taste for croissants and champagne) but soon realises she can't run for ever. Rajeev Balasubramanyam has created an unforgettable heroine - childlike but determined, naive yet shrewd, her delightful voice resonates throughout the book. Written with a delicate irony, this debut novel is shot through with intelligence and a rare compassion for human frailty. …
Seller Inventory # 003381
- Title
- In Beautiful Disguises
- Author
- Rajeev Balasubramanyam
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury, London
- Publication year
- 2000
- Condition
- Very Good
- Book Type
- Book
- Binding
- Trade Paperback
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 0747547025
- ISBN 13
- 9780747547020
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review
Pressure mounts when her sister is forced to wed a "transatlantic demi-god" and she confesses to his grandfather that she has no intention of marrying. He advises that every actress needs a passion for cinema, "Experience of Life" and a means to acquire food, clothing and shelter--"milk, cotton, bricks". She resolves to run away and, aided by the grandfather, finds herself as a maid to a white woman who resembles "some kind of pubescent parakeet" in the city in the north, where the "air had a sootiness to it; it smelt of petrol and hard, sun-dried excrement". She cheerfully resigns herself to this being "the uninteresting period" in her life before stardom, and learns from the colourful cast of people around her that "identity is rather a matter of self-perception". Although a little over-written at times, the cheeky, determined voice of the heroine as she waits for the beautifully disguised film star in training to emerge keeps you engaged to the end.--Cherry Smyth
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Riley Books
Oswaldtwistle, United Kingdom
AbeBooks seller since July 11, 2002
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| Item | 5 to 10 business days | 5 to 10 business days |
|---|---|---|
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poetry and literature, Plays, Biographies, Crime, Horror, History, First Editions, Fantasy, Science FictionSeller's business information
Riley Books
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