Beauty
By: Raphael Selbourne
Publisher: Tindal Street Press
Published: 2009
Place of publication: Birmingham
Language: eng
Number of pages: 320
ISBN-13: 9780955647673
Description: ""Beauty--in name and appearance--is a twenty-year-old Bangladeshi woman, back in the UK having disgraced her family by fleeing an abusive arranged marriage. Placed on the jobseeker's treadmill and under continuing domestic pressure, in desperation, she runs away. Out in the frightening city streets, her language and culture are a comfort but complicate her every encounter--and place her at the mercy of two unlikely helpers. Mark is an ex-offender, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier-breeding lad in an England shirt, the type of white man she's learnt to fear. His neighbour Peter is a middle class underachiever on the rebound from a bitter relationship. Both men are drawn to Beauty and want to show her their worlds. Determined and spirited, yet tormented by doubts, Beauty is forced to examine her beliefs and confront her future. While her brothers search for her across the city, the conflict between her desire for personal freedom and her sense of family duty deepens. What will she do?"--Page 4 of cover.
Notes: "Winner of the 2009 Costa First Novel Award"--Cover