Published by Tindal Street Press, £7.99
ISBN 978-0-9556476-7-3
Reviewed by Dianne Blashill
Beauty is a young Bangladeshi woman who has come home to Wolverhampton after her forced marriage to an middle aged mullah back in her home village has gone badly wrong. Her family treat her like a slave and rely on her benefits money to keep them afloat; in the background there is the threat that her unwanted husband will one day come to the UK.
Mark has been in prison for stealing cars, he breeds Staffordshire Bull Terrier dogs and lives in squalor. His neighbour, Peter who thinks himself an intellect is stuck in a dull job and has moved to Wolverhampton to escape his overbearing girlfriend rather than tell her he no longer loves her.
The lives of these three people cross when Beauty has yet another row with her family about her husband and both Mark & Peter find themselves attracted to Beauty and want to help her; she is naïve and ill educated and out of her depth. She has to question her religious beliefs, her upbringing and family values and the well meaning help of an outsider forces her to choose between freedom and her family.
Selbourne has created some very believable characters in this modern gritty inner city novel. As each person reveals their thoughts and foibles the reader will find themselves cheering on the most unlikely champions.
This book won the Costa First Novel Award in 2009 but it would appear that Selbourne has not published any other books which is a shame as I would like to read more of his writing.
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