REVIEWS

‘ ... 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.'
Kirkus, starred review

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

‘Brilliant … For a book that's so short, Faleiro manages to pack a lot in: pimps, gangsters, transvestites, cops and madams. But its most outstanding quality to my eye is the window it offers on the widespread sexual repression that exists in India today, and the
murky middle-class morality that rules it.’
The Guardian

‘[A] tour de force of heartrending reportage ... which blends rigorous journalistic research with the narrative skills of a novelist. Faleiro depicts effects as well as excavating causes, painting a vivid portrait of the daily — and nightly — life of a dancer,
as well as the factors leading Leela into that life in the first place, and showing why Bombay's dance bars were wiped out. With tight focus and pacing, she is adept at conjuring the brutal backstory of these lives.’
The Independent

‘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 Sunday Telegraph

‘In a fast-paced, conversational, high-octane circumstantial style, the contradictions of Leela’s hedonistic, heartbreaking life as a badass Lolita crossed with a naively knowing Sweet Charity are thoroughly and empathetically explored. Her rich character is sparked
to vivid life in a highly coloured work of brilliant literary reportage.’
The Times

‘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 Spectator

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

‘Sonia Faleiro's portrait of a teenaged Mumbai 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.’
The National

‘[Beautiful Thing] is unbearably bleak at times, but it is saved from doominess by (Faleiro’s) striking empathy, sensitivity, and sharp ear.’
The Independent on Sunday

‘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 Financial Times

'Beautiful Thing is what we’ve been waiting for in contemporary India — a non-fiction debut of astonishing integrity and sensitivity, where Faleiro tells a story that is beguiling, incredibly funny in parts, and absolutely heart-breaking. This is without question a brilliant, unforgettable book by a writer who is one of the best of her generation. Beautiful Thing is one of the best books of the year; and is one of the most intimate and gripping books written about Bombay in a very long while.'
Nilanjana Roy, Business Standard

'When you have your own book of narrative non-fiction coming out soon, it can be demoralising to encounter something as good as Sonia Faleiro’s Beautiful Thing: Inside the Secret World of Bombay’s Dance Bars and so, as I read the first few pages of this illuminating book about the life and struggles of a spirited young bar dancer, my admiration was tempered by a sinking feeling of envy. But a couple of chapters in, the admiration had won out. This book is everything one might have expected after reading Sonia’s outstanding (journalism).
Jai Arjun Singh, Jabberwock

'Best Books of the Year: 2010'
The Observer / Guardian

'Joseph Conrad once famously wrote of his fiction, "My task, which I am trying to achieve, is by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel -- it is, before all, to make you see." That task is exactly what Sonia Faleiro has admirably executed.'
Sanjay Sipahimalani, Antiblurbs

'As a first person narrator who makes her presence felt only occasionally, Faleiro presents what is revealed to her without judgement or heavy-handed emotion. She has collected a wonderful set of characters to act as our guides in Beautiful Thing. Aside from Leela, there’s Aunty, who runs a brothel in Aksa Beach; Masti, a rare example of a hijra accepted by her family; Shetty, the owner of a dance bar; Priya, Leela’s friend; Apsara, Leela’s mother; and a Dubai-based fixer who claims to be Abu Salem’s right hand man. Well-paced, sharply-observed and full of respectful curiosity, Beautiful Thing is difficult to put down.'
Deepanjana Pal, Mumbai Boss

'In India, despite the staggering number of fabulous stories that are waiting to be told, we have been mostly deprived of good literary nonfiction - a genre which Edward Hume describes as one that combines "the immediacy of journalism and the power of true accounts with the texture, read, drama, emotional punch, point of view and broad themes of a novel". This is what Faleiro has achieved in her riveting story-telling, as she draws out the relationship between 19-year-old Leela and the dance bar, Night Lovers, with its golden pillars and Medusa heads.
Namita Devidayal, Times of India

'Remarkable.'
Sunil Sethi, Business Standard

'Beautiful Thing is an important piece of journalism. ... A must read.'
Rahul Pandita, OPEN (Linked to an interview with OPEN. The review is available in print and in the e-mag).

'To ignore Beautiful Thing would be an act of supreme ego.'
The Hindu

'Irrefutably heartbreaking.'
The Asian Age

'Detailed, disturbing, admirable. A big achievement.'
The Indian Express

'Astonishing, gripping, immersive.'
Time Out

'Read Beautiful Thing for the sheer bravado of Leela and her friends, unafraid of being judged. But read it also for Faleiro, who has captured a world many refuse to acknowledge and shown it in a delicate, non-judgemental and touching way. Beautiful Thing is one of the most compelling works of non-fiction from India in recent years.'

'Rivetting ... Beautiful Thing is great non-fiction, because it does not attempt a definitive version of the truth; it is instead, an account of the inconclusiveness of experience. Far from stone-casting a dance bar girl’s life in opinion, it lets it throb and pulse within the covers of a book. And within the walls of your memory.'
First City (December, 2010. Two page interview + review).