Beyond the Beautiful Forevers

In India, a country fast becoming prosperous, Katherine Boo’s book about Annawadi, a shantytown in the shadow of luxury hotels near Mumbai airport, is enlightening and illuminating. Asha, a woman of formidable ambition, has identified a path to the middle class for her daughter through beauty pageants. Abdul sees “a fortune beyond counting” in the recyclable garbage that richer people throw away. Kalu, a young thief who cannot read or write but dreams of escaping Annawadi, is electrified by hope. And then there is Annawadi’s brightest star: Annasuya, an enterprising teenager and Asha’s beautiful daughter.