NEWS

' ... Originally published in India in 2010, the book has become an international sensation; after only a few pages, it's easy to understand why. With crackling prose, Faleiro provides an intense, disconcertingly entertaining glimpse into the shadowy corners of a foreign culture; the fast-paced narrative, while undeniably journalistic, reads like a thriller. But what ultimately gives the book its resonance is Faleiro's empathy and love for her fully developed subjects. In lesser hands, these young people could have come off as clichés, 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.'

A starred review from Kirkus for Beautiful Thing, out in the US on March 6.

Sonia has been awarded the 2011 Karmaveer Puraskaar for Social Justice for ‘drawing attention to India’s most vulnerable and writing about them with sensitivity, humanity and integrity.’

Watch Sonia’s talk ‘Writing About the Margins’ at TedxAmsterdam Women, 2011 at the Van Gogh Museum.

The UK reviews of Beautiful Thing are out!

The Spectator: ‘It is useless to describe the pathos and singular power of this book. Beautiful Thing is, quite simply, one of the finest books on Bombay ever written.’

The Financial Times: ‘The rich, gaudy tapestry that Faleiro weaves is a reminder that some of the best recent books about India, such as Suketu Mehta’s Maximum City, also about Mumbai, give us the big picture by focusing on the microcosm.’

The Sunday Telegraph: ‘Excellent. … A meticulous, moving account of the battle for social mobility and personal freedom in Bombay … a rich portrait of the desires, vulnerabilities and sheer resilience of Leela and her colleagues.’

The Scotsman Book Supplement: ‘Faleiro demonstrates that when written with empathy, the story of one person's life can effectively tells the story of thousands.’

The Sunday Times calls it 'A tour de force of reportage, whose depth, insight and resonance make it the equal of the best fiction.'

The Guardian describes Beautiful Thing as 'A brilliant investigative foray that lays bare the murky morality that dictates life for women in India’.

The Independent in an interview with Sonia says, 'Beautiful Thing throws the doors open on Mumbai's sex trade.'

The Times: 'A work of brilliant literary reportage.'

The Independent on Sunday: ‘A tour de force of heartrending reportage ... Faleiro compassionately captures the yearning for a more humane existence and the resilience of the human spirit. Among these lives lived on the margins of society, voices usually unheard echo defiantly.’

The National: ‘Sonia Faleiro’s portrait of a teenaged Bombay bar dancer, Leela, and her bright but brittle world, is so compelling that it invites from us the question of exactly what might constitute genius in non-fiction.’

Literary Review: ‘A gripping and intimate portrayal of the lives of the women who work in the (dance bar) industry. Faleiro manages to evoke shock, rage and laughter.'

To purchase your copy click here. For Kindle, click here.

‘In Delhi where I grew up I knew a girl who carried a meat knife. Tired of daily molestations, she used to say that the next stranger who fondled her, in the bus, or on the street as he brushed past, would feel it.’

Read Sonia’s Op-Ed on the Mumbai blasts in the New York Times.