Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo

The Holmes Evening Book Group met last night to talk about Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo. The book is a nonfiction account of people living in abject poverty in Annawadi -- one of the slums beside the airport in Mumbai in the Indian state of Maharashtra (formerly known as Bombay). The title is a reference to one of the many billboards advertising luxury home goods and other products that the Annawadi residents living in shanties made of scavenged materials will never come into contact with and that partially block tourists' views of the sprawling slum.

The author, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, immersed herself in Annawadi to research and write this book, which is composed entirely of the thoughts and actions of Annawadi residents whose lives the author focused on. (The author doesn't write about herself and her experiences at all, except for her author's note at the very end.) The hopeless lives of the Annawadians were so foreign and depressing to many in the group that it seemed difficult to feel a connection to them. Foreign aid was described as going to line the pockets of corrupt politicians and  officials and never reaching the people who need it, which was another discouraging fact contributing to a sense of hopelessness.

The group discussed the rampant corruption described in the book and compared it to recent incidents of political, judicial, and law enforcement corruption in the U.S. Talk also turned to the idea of a global economy and whether a turn towards buying goods that were made in America may be taking place.

Behind the Beautiful Forevers received many excellent reviews, but will not be making the list of this book club's favorites! Recommended as a better choice for a book about Third World poverty: Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder.

Have you read this book? Please share your thoughts!

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton

The Evening Book Club met April 29th to discuss The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton. Most agreed that the ending was the best part of the book and that it was well worth reading through the entire plot twists and character descriptions to get there.

The story was hard to get into but got better as more was revealed. All of the annoyances and layers were true to life and seemed realistic, especially the unraveling of hidden secrets and the consequences of resulting tragedies. One member was very surprised at the ending while another said that she had picked up clues early in the book.

The descriptions of time and place – World War II England and the post-War years – were very well done. The family home, especially the kitchen in the farm house, was described so perfectly that members could see it. Members said that their opinion of the main characters, Dorothy and Vivienne changed as their true lives were discovered. There was some discussion about Dorothy’s children and how their natures reflected the lives of both Dorothy and Vivienne – especially Laurel, Dorothy’s eldest, who was a lot like the positive side of Dorothy. Vivienne has a more spiritual and introspective life than Dorothy which first appeared in her childhood and resulted in her retreating into herself as an adolescent and on into adulthood. Members generally agreed that Jimmy was a likable character despite his checkered background. He was a good and true friend to both Dorothy and Vivienne. Vivienne’s husband was not as likable and no one really cared about what happened to him...

Club members said that they would likely read another book by Kate Morton. The Forgotten Garden and The House at Riverton were recommended by others.

Have you read The Secret Keeper or any other books by Kate Morton? Add your thoughts to the discussion through the comments!

This Month's Selection: Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo

This month we are reading Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo.

Join us May 21st at 6:30 p.m. for a face-to-face discussion, or read this National Book Award winner along with us and share your comments on the blog, starting May 22nd.

From the publisher, Random House: 

From Pulitzer Prize-winner Katherine Boo, a landmark work of narrative nonfiction that tells the dramatic and sometimes heartbreaking story of families striving toward a better life in one of the twenty-first century’s great, unequal cities. With intelligence, humor, and deep insight into what connects human beings to one another in an era of tumultuous change, Behind the Beautiful Forevers carries the reader headlong into one of the twenty-first century’s hidden worlds, and into the lives of people impossible to forget.