In Beautiful Disguises
by Rajeev Balasubramanyam
Published in Hardback (2000)
By Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 07475 47025
246 pages
Reviewed by Lopa Patel
Rating: (4 flames)
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'In Beautiful Disguises' is a delight from start to finish.

The central character is a young girl: a modern-day Holly Golightly figure ('Breakfast at Tiffany's') whose life is dominated by Audrey Hepburn movies screened at the local Majick Movie House.

Set in today's Southern India, our heroine, whose name is not revealed, is sixteen years old. Her head is filled with ideas of being a film star and yet her daily life in a dysfunctional household sketches clearly what her future life will be.

Her mother is a silent, ghostly, cold and loveless figure. Her tyrannical father, a minor civil servant, tries desperately to mould his children into his vision of the ideal family. Her bother, Ravi, is a total loser whose sole occupation is watching TV. Her elder sister, the only obedient child, sacrificing herself to an arranged marriage. Her heroine is the youngest sibling, feisty yet fragile, indecisive yet determined, simple and loving.

Her life takes a dramatic turn when it is her turn for an arranged marriage. To avoid a lecherous suitor she decides to run away. With help from her sister's father-in-law (extended family has a real role to play in this plot!), she escapes to become a maid in the big city.

She enters the service of Mr Aziz, a wealthy businessman married to a French woman called Mrs Marceau. The core of the book explores the relationships between Mrs Marceau, a selfish and domineering snob, Mr Aziz and their son Armand as intertwined with those of the other household servants. Raju, the "glue" that binds together the servant troupe. Maneka, the drunk and uninhibited maid. Manu, the very hairy and fat driver. Arun, the alcoholic gardener. Ambika, the elderly maid and Ishaq, the elderly cook.

Life for our heroine continues almost life a plot in a bad B-movie. But we see her maturing, her interaction with the others becoming sensible and more adult. She even gets "ideas above her station", when her crush on Armand fools her into thinking she could be his girlfriend. Armand, a duplicitous and shallow character, and his friends invite our heroine to join them for drinks and then laugh at her clothes, manners and speech. This sets off a chain reaction that sees our heroine returning to her home.

The life that awaits her there has changed dramatically too. Her sister's marriage appears less dire than it initially seemed. Ravi has entered an Ashram, his sole occupation now being copulation! Her father has become a mere shadow of his former self and her mother has developed into a new steely force. The "tout face" change is a little unbelievable. But one allows Rajeev Balasubramanyam a little "creative licence" in this funny tale.

With help from Ravi, we see our heroine consenting to a marriage with Arjuna, a handsome dancer and brother to one of Ravi's conquests in the Ashram. You will just have to read the book to find out how our heroine fares!

Amazingly, this book is the first from Rajeev Balasubramanyam, although it reads more like a work from a more experience novelist. Creating a heroine with a soul that young and naïve and fresh could not have been an easy feat.

Overall an accomplished novel, that delights from start to finish. Winner of the 1999 Betty Trask Award, this is one of the few "must read" books.

About the Author

Rajeev Balasubramanyam was born in 1974 in Lancashire, England, and is a graduate of both Oxford and Cambridge Universities. 'In Beautiful Disguises' is his first novel, and was the winner of a 1999 Betty Trask Award. He has also been shortlisted for the Ian St James Short Story Award.

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