Book Review: Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo

Hi everyone!

I just finished reading an extraordinary book. Katherine Boo, a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer for the New Yorker, has written a beautifully rendered portrait of life in the Annawadi slum of Mumbai. Annawadi is a notorious slum that borders on the Mumbai international airport. Its 3,000 denizens live in a shanty community that is bordered on all sides by the luxuries and wealth of New India.. This is not your average non-fiction narrative detailing the horrendous poverty inherent to one of the world's most developing countries. Instead, Ms. Boo approaches her subject through the keenly focused lens of a storyteller. By focusing on the lives of two families and various other individuals that exist on their periphery, "Behind the Beautiful Forevers" provides an insightful and richly detailed account that never slips into sentimentality while maintaining a level of compassion and a narrative drive as finely wrought as the best in crime procedural fiction.

Muslim teenager Abdul is a garbage picker and his family's primary wage earner. His family is able to survive based on the money he brings in by sorting garbage and selling it to local recyclers. His mother, Zehrunisa, holds the family together with her wit, sharp tongue, and strong familial loyalty. Abdul's sister is recently divorced and has left her husband's family to live once again with her own people. Abdul's father is in poor health but dreams of finally moving out of the slum to a small plot of land on Mumbai's outskirts where he hopes he can one day raise his family (consisting of eleven children) in peace.

Unfortunately, a verbal altercation with a neighboring woman results in a self-immolation and a trial that threatens to destroy everything Abdul and his family have long fought for.

Add to this mix is Asha, a determined daughter of the slums, who uses corruption and sexual favors from powerful men to gain a foothold in the cadre of Annawadi's power-wielding elite; youngsters Sunil, Sonu, and Kalu,  friends of Abdul's, who do what they can to stay ahead by relying on street smarts; Asha's daughter Manju, who runs an English class out of her home while hoping to pursue a university degree; and Meena, Manju's friend, who resorts to tragic action when she realizes she will never escape the slum.

"Behind the Beautiful Forevers" is a page-turner that is all the more compelling for being true. What prevails is an unadulterated portrait of the human spirit and an innate will to survive despite overwhelming odds. It also brings to life the struggles and challenges of a nation trying to overcome an historically caste-bound society where the division between the very rich and the very poor is epic and seemingly insurmountable. This is one the very best books ever written about India and one that should be required reading for anyone interested in learning about one of the world's fastest growing economies and the lengths people will go to in order to provide themselves and their families a better tomorrow.