Melba Escobar

Die kolumbianische Journalistin und Autorin Melba Escobar erzählt in ihrem dritten Roman die Geschichte der farbigen Kosmetikerin Karen, die anfänglich den sozialen Aufstieg aus einem Armenviertel der karibischen ¿schwarzen¿ Hafenstadt Cartagena in die untere Dienstleistungs-Gesellschaft der Hauptstadt Bogota geschafft zu haben glaubt. Hier jedoch kollidieren die Träume der schönen jungen Frau mit den sozialen & politischen Realitäten einer tief gespaltenen, rassistischen und sexistischen Gesellschaft, und nach dem Mord an einer jungen Frau, die sich kurz vor ihrem Tod von Karen behandeln ließ, nimmt das Unheil seinen nicht aufzuhaltenden Lauf.

In einer gelungenen Verzahnung von auktorialem Erzähl-Rahmen, Ich-Erzählung & wechselnden zeitlichen Ebenen entwickelt die Autorin zunächst in aller Ruhe die Charaktere ihres Personals, um dann in einem temporeichen, kriminalistisch glaubwürdigen Plot das Finale einzuleiten.

"Die Kosmetikerin" ist sehr gut geschrieben & übersetzt, gleichzeitig ausgezeichnete Unterhaltungs-Literatur & bewegendes Sozial-Drama bar jeder Sentimentalität. Nicht zuletzt ist dieses Buch wieder mal ein starkes Argument dafür, die neudeutsche, fade Befindlichkeits-Literatur ohne Bedauern links liegen zu lassen.… (mais)

I couldn't finish this soon enough. You're probably thinking, wow, is it that good?

Well... I couldn't finish it soon enough because I desperately wanted to move on to a more enjoyable book. This was monotonous, tedious (long, long, long paragraphs), unstructured and probably one of the worst cases of head-hopping I've come across: practically mid-sentence. The story was meant to be told from different POVs, but it was badly executed.

What is it about? I couldn't tell you, really. There were: a murder, rape, lots of waxing, massaging, eye-lash tinting, Botoxing, bitching, funerals and weddings. Who was it about, mainly? I don't know. Maybe it was Karen, the single mother working in a beauty salon, but moonlighting as a prostitute. Or was it the part-time narrator, Claire, a lonely, middle-aged, frustrated pschyo-analyst? Or was it the mother of the murder victim, seeking justice for her murdered daughter?

This was set in Colombia…not a place you want to put on your bucket list. The story flitted about randomly, and I spent most of the time thinking: Who are you? What's happening now? The dialogue was starchy and stiff, and there wasn't a single character I liked or cared enough about to get to know, probably because the characters didn't care for each other and actually, were pretty snotty to each other, too. And if they did manage to throw in a reasonably affectionate term of address, all they could come up with was 'gorgeous'. Which was totally incongruous most of the time.

A translated book never bodes well, in my view: the text never flows as well as the original…there were some rather clunky phrasing and word choices. A book I regret wasting my reading time on.… (mais)

Die Psychotherapeutin Claire Dalvard lebt in Bogotá und ist
Kundin des exklusiven Kosmetiksalons "Haus der Schönheit".
Dort arbeitet die alleinerziehende Karen Valdés, eine
geheimnisvolle Schöne, unter harten Bedingungen. Sie spart
jeden Peso, um bald ihren Sohn zu sich zu holen. Damen der
High Society gehören zu ihren Kundinnen, doch eines Tages
betritt die Schülerin Sandra Guzmán ihre Kabine, um sich
für ein intimes Rendezvous verschönern zu lassen. Tags
darauf ist Sandra tot und Karen war die Letzte, die sie
lebend gesehen hat. Sie wird selbst um ihre Ersparnisse
gebracht und brutal vergewaltigt. Claire spürt eine
Veränderung und bietet Karen ihre Hilfe an. Doch die
arbeitet inzwischen abends für einen Escort-Service und
wird die Geliebte von Eduardo Ramelli, dem Ex-Mann von
Claires Freundin. Ramelli ist in den Tod der Schülerin
verwickelt und hat in großem Stil das Gesundheitssystem
korrumpiert. Schonungslos skizziert die Autorin eine
käufliche, von Sexismus und Rassismus geprägte
kolumbianische Gesellschaft. Ein spannender Thriller mit
einem attraktiven Cover. Breit empfohlen.… (mais)

I enjoyed reading HOUSE OF BEAUTY, although, I think it’s fair to say, not as much as I hoped to.

I was lured by the premise of a crime novel centring around a beauty salon, featuring the murder of a schoolgirl, concealed by corrupt officials involved in massive healthcare fraud, all happening in Bogota in Columbia. It sounded like a brilliant idea for a novel! I was also drawn by the notion of a beauty salon as a safe place to go, where women can discuss their innermost secrets with each other with no male intrusion.

HOUSE OF BEAUTY was an interesting read which brought a reality that touches on current and pertinent social aspects in Columbia.

I did not enjoy this novel as much as I might have, as some of my enjoyment was lost in the translation. Putting the issue of translation difficulties aside, I found there to be some confusing elements in this novel and not enough detail about the motive for the murder and the ensuing investigation.

The detail of the murder itself is very specifically explained which I liked. The book is told from the perspective of two women, after the murder of Sabrina Guzman has already taken place. Claire, a customer at the salon and ghostwriter Lucia, are both middle-class Columbians. However, there’s nothing to make their respective points of view distinctive, so I was frequently puzzled as to which one of them was currently speaking. There are also third-person chapters from the perspective of Karen, a beautician at the salon; from Sabrina Guzman, the girl who dies; and from Sabrina’s mother, Consuelo.

I was fully involved in the story and was keen to know how Karen dealt with all of her difficulties she had with her life, however, I felt that I didn’t really understand the precise reason for the crime being committed. The conclusion, although it had some interesting twists, did not bring everything totally together for me, but maybe that was the author’s intention. It definitely left some room for further thought even after I had finished reading.

All in all, I would recommend Melba Escobar’s HOUSE OF BEAUTY for its originality.

Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.… (mais)