House of Beauty – Melba Escobar
The March book from my Reading in Heels subscription was House of Beauty by Melba Escobar.
Avid readers will know that one of my presents for my 30th birthday from the hubby was a subscription for Reading in Heels.
Synopsis
House of Beauty is a high-end salon in Bogotá’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?
My overall thoughts of House of Beauty
At first I struggled to really get into this book as I wasn’t sure who’s viewpoint the book was written from.
However I’m glad I was able to get past this as I was fascinated by Karen’s story.
Karen works in a high class beauty salon, House Of Beauty where she is treated somewhat badly (or so she perceives) by some of the rich clients.
She only feels beautiful if she has expensive clothes and has her hair relaxed, because society, and more importantly her mother, has told her this all her life.
One day in the salon Karen gives a school girl a full body wax, assuming the girl is going on a date. She then hears that the girl has died, a suspected suicide, which her mother refuses to believe and seeks information from Karen, leading to a shocking tale of murder and corruption and Karen falls deeper into a murky world to make ends meet.
As the story unravels you really feel for Karen and her situation which just goes from bad to worse.
The story is told mostly through the voices of 3 different women, different classes and races (which at times I did find confusing) but this is book is really about Karen’s story.
Overall I enjoyed this book, it was a lot darker than I first expected it to be and it’s thought provoking.
Pin this 👇🏻
Other related posts
My first Reading In Heels book review was Stories We Tell Ourselves by Sarah Françoise.
Next up was States of Passion by Nihad Sirees.
The January Reading in Heels book was The Outrun.
I absolutely loved the February Reading In Heels book The Charmed Life of Alex Moore
Here’s my thoughts on BookBub a daily special-offers service for ebooks
Keep up to date
You can also find me on Twitter @rachael_stray
Or follow my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/rachaelstrayblog/
You can see my random pictures on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/rachys2011/
And see what I’m pinning on Pinterest https://www.pinterest.co.uk/rachaelstray/
