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A review by caitlinxmartin
Beautiful Thing: Inside the Secret World of Bombay's Dance Bars by Sonia Faleiro
3.0
Beautiful Thing is a fascinating read, opening a window into a world I suspect most of us never knew about, much less imagined. The women of Bombay's dance bars sell themselves in every way imaginable - through dancing, through sex, through their involvement in the criminal underground. These women proudly wear the hallmark of survivors.
Whether or not you find it in yourself to admire these women, once you've read this book you will at least understand what extreme poverty, gender discrimination, and pure desperation will drive people to do. I thought often throughout this book of many Americans who aren't willing to clean their own homes and can hire this out because of their privilege. This is a great book for taking you outside of your cushy world and into doing what is necessary.
Faleiro writes honestly and without judgement of these women and their stories. Much of this book is brutal and shocking and Faleiro doesn't shelter her reader from this. She also doesn't pretend that any of these lives are dignified, even though through her empathy she draws the reader in. There are no cliched happy endings here.
I liked the first part of the book very much, but found myself becoming a bit disengaged during the second half as the focus turned from the lives of these women to political concerns. Despite this, Beautiful Thing is a rich and well-written glimpse into a world I'm very glad I don't have to live in.
Whether or not you find it in yourself to admire these women, once you've read this book you will at least understand what extreme poverty, gender discrimination, and pure desperation will drive people to do. I thought often throughout this book of many Americans who aren't willing to clean their own homes and can hire this out because of their privilege. This is a great book for taking you outside of your cushy world and into doing what is necessary.
Faleiro writes honestly and without judgement of these women and their stories. Much of this book is brutal and shocking and Faleiro doesn't shelter her reader from this. She also doesn't pretend that any of these lives are dignified, even though through her empathy she draws the reader in. There are no cliched happy endings here.
I liked the first part of the book very much, but found myself becoming a bit disengaged during the second half as the focus turned from the lives of these women to political concerns. Despite this, Beautiful Thing is a rich and well-written glimpse into a world I'm very glad I don't have to live in.