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Find out moreMelba Escobar writes for the Colombian newspapers El Espectador and El Pais. Her novel House of Beauty was chosen as one of the best books of 2016 by the Colombian National Novel Prize. She lives in Bogota.
Set in the author’s home city of Bogotá, Colombia, this absorbing, pacey women-centered novel has a brutal murder at its core, and offers sharply observed insights into corruption and double standards around class, gender and race, as seen through the eyes of two unforgettable female protagonists. Gripping, brutal, honest, insightful, this is smart crime fiction with social conscience. Karen has moved to the city to earn money to send home to her young son. She works at the high-end House of Beauty salon, playing the role of confidante alongside her waxing and massage services. When one of Karen’s clients, a teenage girl, is found dead, the girl’s mother turns to Karen for information since she was one of the last people to see the girl alive. Then there’s psychoanalyst Claire, another of Karen’s clients, who’s recently returned to Bogotá after living in France for years. The women’s inner and outer lives, their struggles, desires, and increasingly dangerous predicaments are explored and played-out against the salon backdrop and beyond, as Karen becomes embroiled in the city’s criminal underworld. The writing is smart, the story riveting, and the author is truly gifted at character portraiture, and incisive in her exposition of misogyny. ~ Joanne Owen
An addictive Colombian crime novel set in and around a beauty salon in Bogota `This delicate, merciless filleting of race and gender politics is highly recommended' Guardian `A revelation. A rewarding read and an unexpected insight into a foreign society not often documented in novels. Treat yourself' Crime Time `We thought we were bored of thrillers, but then we found House of Beauty ... as gasp-inducing as a hot wax' Glamour House of Beauty is a high-end salon in Bogota's exclusive Zona Rosa area, and Karen is one of its best beauticians. But there is more to her role than the best way to apply wax, or how to give the perfect massage. Her clients share their most intimate secrets with her. She knows all about their breast implants, their weekends in Miami, their divorces and affairs. One rainy afternoon a teenage girl turns up for a treatment with Karen, dressed in her school uniform and smelling of alcohol. The very next day, the girl is found dead. Karen was the last person to see the girl alive, and the girl's mother is desperate to find out what she knows. Most important of all: who was her daughter going to meet that night?
A thought-provoking Colombian crime novel set in and around a beauty salon in Bogota `This delicate, merciless filleting of race and gender politics is highly recommended' Guardian `A revelation. A rewarding read and an unexpected insight into a foreign society not often documented in novels. Treat yourself' Crime Time `We thought we were bored of thrillers, but then we found House of Beauty ... as gasp-inducing as a hot wax' Glamour House of Beauty is a high-end salon in Bogota's exclusive Zona Rosa area, and Karen is one of its best beauticians. But there is more to her role than the best way to apply wax, or how to give the perfect massage. Her clients share their most intimate secrets with her. She knows all about their breast implants, their weekends in Miami, their divorces and affairs. One rainy afternoon a teenage girl turns up for a treatment with Karen, dressed in her school uniform and smelling of alcohol. The very next day, the girl is found dead. Karen was the last person to see the girl alive, and the girl's mother is desperate to find out what she knows. Most important of all: who was her daughter going to meet that night?
A thought-provoking Colombian crime novel set in and around a beauty salon in Bogota. House of Beauty is a high-end salon in Bogota's exclusive Zona Rosa area, and Karen is one of its best beauticians. But there is more to her role than the best way to apply wax or how to give the perfect massage. Her clients confide in her, and she knows all about them. Their breast implants, their weekends in Miami, their divorces and affairs. Karen has problems of her own. She's in trouble, and she needs money. More money than she can make at House of Beauty. Most serious of all: a teenage girl has been found dead, and Karen was one of the last people to see her alive. So the girl's mother is desperate to talk to her...
A thought-provoking Colombian crime novel set in and around a beauty salon in Bogota `This delicate, merciless filleting of race and gender politics is highly recommended' Guardian `A revelation. A rewarding read and an unexpected insight into a foreign society not often documented in novels. Treat yourself' Crime Time `We thought we were bored of thrillers, but then we found House of Beauty ... as gasp-inducing as a hot wax' Glamour House of Beauty is a high-end salon in Bogota's exclusive Zona Rosa area, and Karen is one of its best beauticians. But there is more to her role than the best way to apply wax, or how to give the perfect massage. Her clients share their most intimate secrets with her. She knows all about their breast implants, their weekends in Miami, their divorces and affairs. One rainy afternoon a teenage girl turns up for a treatment with Karen, dressed in her school uniform and smelling of alcohol. The very next day, the girl is found dead. Karen was the last person to see the girl alive, and the girl's mother is desperate to find out what she knows. Most important of all: who was her daughter going to meet that night?
Set in the author’s home city of Bogotá, Colombia, this absorbing, pacey women-centered novel has a brutal murder at its core, and offers sharply observed insights into corruption and double standards around class, gender and race, as seen through the eyes of two unforgettable female protagonists. Gripping, brutal, honest, insightful, this is smart crime fiction with social conscience. Karen has moved to the city to earn money to send home to her young son. She works at the high-end House of Beauty salon, playing the role of confidante alongside her waxing and massage services. When one of Karen’s clients, a teenage girl, is found dead, the girl’s mother turns to Karen for information since she was one of the last people to see the girl alive. Then there’s psychoanalyst Claire, another of Karen’s clients, who’s recently returned to Bogotá after living in France for years. The women’s inner and outer lives, their struggles, desires, and increasingly dangerous predicaments are explored and played-out against the salon backdrop and beyond, as Karen becomes embroiled in the city’s criminal underworld. The writing is smart, the story riveting, and the author is truly gifted at character portraiture, and incisive in her exposition of misogyny. ~ Joanne Owen
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