Beautiful Thing : Inside the Secret World of Bombay's Dance Bars EPUB

"Both a tragic monument to the abused bar girls of Bombay and a celebration of their amazing resilience and spirit."-William Dalrymple, bestselling author of The Anarchy


Published in India to great acclaim and named a Time Out Subcontinental Book of the Year and an Observer Book of the Year, Beautiful Thing is a stunning piece of journalism that offers a rare firsthand glimpse into Bombay's notorious sex industry.

Sonia Faleiro was a reporter in search of a story when she met nineteen-year-old Leela, a charismatic exotic dancer with a story to tell. Leela introduced Sonia to the underworld of Bombay's dance bars: a world of glamorous women; of fierce love, sex, and violence; of gangsters, police, prostitutes, and pimps. When an ambitious politician cashed in on a tide of false morality and had Bombay's dance bars wiped out, Leela's proud independence faced its greatest test. In a city where almost everyone is certain that someone, somewhere, is worse off than them, she fights to survive-and to win.

In Beautiful Thing, Sonia Faleiro has crafted one of the most original works about India in years, an "intimate and valuable book of literary reportage . . . [that] will break your heart several times over" (The New York Times).

"Reporting at its best."-Junot Diaz, The Rumpus


"A glimpse into a frightening subculture . . . In lesser hands, these young people could have come off as cliches, but the author makes sure we care for them and root for them to survive a life that most will never understand. Gritty, gripping, and often heartbreaking-an impressive piece of narrative nonfiction."-Kirkus Reviews (starred review)