Beauty (novel)
Encyclopedia
Beauty is a novel by Raphael Selbourne first published in 2009
about a young Muslim
woman – the eponymous heroine – in search of personal freedom. Beauty was awarded the 2009 Costa First Novel Award
.
, England
, Beauty relays the tribulations of ten days in the life of Beauty Begum, a nineteen-year-old Muslim Bengali
woman who has survived a substantial degree of physical and emotional harm from her family. Because the novel is told using an oscillating narrator, the reader has the benefit of 'hearing' the thoughts of the main characters.
At the beginning of the novel, Beauty is again living with her family after having returned from Bangladesh
, where she was supposed to be the wife of a mullah
more than twice her age, an arranged marriage
that has not worked out due to Beauty's opposition. Having preserved her virginity
, and having been pronounced dumb and insane by her family, she now realizes that she is again being singled out to marry someone for whom she does not care. The first few chapters provide an account of her unhappy life, having to provide meals for the rest of the family according to precise specifications, being verbally and physically abused by family members and only being allowed out of the home to attend classes.
Her one act of rebellion – her leaving home before it is too late – causes her first encounter with the world of "white people." She meets Mark Aston, a young ex-con who is trying hard to stay on the right path; Peter Hemmings, his middle-class neighbour, who has been unable to commit himself to his relationship with Kate Morgan, a career woman whose sophisticated feminist
demands have alienated her from him; and a group of elderly inmates of an old people's home
where she finds work whose sons and daughters have decided not to take care of their parents themselves.
Although she is appalled at many aspects of white people's lives, Beauty realizes that she can also benefit from her interactions with them. Mark's attempts at teaching the illiterate young woman to read as well as Peter's lecturing her on Western thought, in particular atheism
and Darwinism
, help her gain some practical knowledge and skills but also reconsider her own prejudices and strengthen her own faith. At the same time, Beauty is exposed to the bureaucracy of the welfare state
and the futility of its endeavours to help those in need.
Somewhat empowered
, Beauty, who has successfully fought off all timid advances by both Mark and Peter, has to choose between her family duty and her own freedom.
2009 in literature
The year 2009 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*8 October - Romanian-born German novelist Herta Müller wins the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature....
about a young Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
woman – the eponymous heroine – in search of personal freedom. Beauty was awarded the 2009 Costa First Novel Award
2009 Costa Book Awards
The shortlists were announced on 25 November 2009. The winners in each category were announced on4 January 2009 on the Front Row programme.-Children's Book:Winner:*Patrick Ness, The Ask and the AnswerShortlist:*Siobhan Dowd, Solace of the Road...
.
Plot summary
Set in the present in WolverhamptonWolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Beauty relays the tribulations of ten days in the life of Beauty Begum, a nineteen-year-old Muslim Bengali
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
woman who has survived a substantial degree of physical and emotional harm from her family. Because the novel is told using an oscillating narrator, the reader has the benefit of 'hearing' the thoughts of the main characters.
At the beginning of the novel, Beauty is again living with her family after having returned from Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, where she was supposed to be the wife of a mullah
Mullah
Mullah is generally used to refer to a Muslim man, educated in Islamic theology and sacred law. The title, given to some Islamic clergy, is derived from the Arabic word مَوْلَى mawlā , meaning "vicar", "master" and "guardian"...
more than twice her age, an arranged marriage
Arranged marriage
An arranged marriage is a practice in which someone other than the couple getting married makes the selection of the persons to be wed, meanwhile curtailing or avoiding the process of courtship. Such marriages had deep roots in royal and aristocratic families around the world...
that has not worked out due to Beauty's opposition. Having preserved her virginity
Virginity
Virginity refers to the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. There are cultural and religious traditions which place special value and significance on this state, especially in the case of unmarried females, associated with notions of personal purity, honor and worth...
, and having been pronounced dumb and insane by her family, she now realizes that she is again being singled out to marry someone for whom she does not care. The first few chapters provide an account of her unhappy life, having to provide meals for the rest of the family according to precise specifications, being verbally and physically abused by family members and only being allowed out of the home to attend classes.
Her one act of rebellion – her leaving home before it is too late – causes her first encounter with the world of "white people." She meets Mark Aston, a young ex-con who is trying hard to stay on the right path; Peter Hemmings, his middle-class neighbour, who has been unable to commit himself to his relationship with Kate Morgan, a career woman whose sophisticated feminist
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
demands have alienated her from him; and a group of elderly inmates of an old people's home
Old people's home
The term old people's home can refer to one of the following:* nursing home* retirement home...
where she finds work whose sons and daughters have decided not to take care of their parents themselves.
Although she is appalled at many aspects of white people's lives, Beauty realizes that she can also benefit from her interactions with them. Mark's attempts at teaching the illiterate young woman to read as well as Peter's lecturing her on Western thought, in particular atheism
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
and Darwinism
Darwinism
Darwinism is a set of movements and concepts related to ideas of transmutation of species or of evolution, including some ideas with no connection to the work of Charles Darwin....
, help her gain some practical knowledge and skills but also reconsider her own prejudices and strengthen her own faith. At the same time, Beauty is exposed to the bureaucracy of the welfare state
Welfare state
A welfare state is a "concept of government in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens. It is based on the principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for those...
and the futility of its endeavours to help those in need.
Somewhat empowered
Empowerment
Empowerment refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social, racial, educational, gender or economic strength of individuals and communities...
, Beauty, who has successfully fought off all timid advances by both Mark and Peter, has to choose between her family duty and her own freedom.
Reviews and background material
- William Palmer: "Beauty, By Raphael Selbourne", The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
(10 September 2009). - Lorne Jackson: "Raphael Selbourne Shines a Light on Hidden World in Beauty, Birmingham PostBirmingham PostThe Birmingham Post newspaper was originally published under the name Daily Post in Birmingham, England, in 1857 by John Frederick Feeney. It was the largest selling broadsheet in the West Midlands, though it faced little if any competition in this category. It changed to tabloid size in 2008...
(15 January 2010). - Interview with the Costa Award winning novelist Raphael Selbourne, The TimesThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
(7 January 2010).
Edition
- Raphael Selbourne: Beauty (Tindal Street PressTindal Street PressTindal Street Press is a Birmingham-based independent publisher of contemporary literary fiction, with a particular focus on writers born, or living, in Birmingham and the West Midlands...
: Birmingham, 2009) (ISBN 9780955647673).