ABOUT THE BOOK.
Synopsis:
The Ugly Face of Beauty.
This is a crushing story of secrecy, deception, jealousy, vanity, mystery and tragedy. Linda and Jane, teenage sisters are at odds with each other. Linda is vain, beautiful, flaunts herself and is a show-off. She’s also heart less, arrogant, merciless and out of control, almost evil.
While Jane is the total opposite and Linda makes Jane’s life a living hell, toying with her emotions. The hate Linda feels and inflicts on Jane is extreme leaving Jane shattered to the point where Jane leaves to seek and orphanage home, where she lands a job helping out when Linda spoils things for her. She even destroys Jane’s paintings.
Linda feels that busy lawyer mother has no time for her and pays Jane more attention, which isn’t true. Linda is lazy, untidy and neglects her schoolwork and only has time for her spoilt brat boyfriend David, who is as arrogant and malicious as her. David is a flirt and is unfaithful and Linda finds out, which later in the story through jealousy leads to devastating tragic consequences between Linda and David’s other girlfriend, Cathy. However Jane uncovers a well-kept family secret and is totally crushed when she discovers the fact that she was adopted at birth. Jane finds this secret as a way of escaping from her dreadful life. And their mother Nancy hires a detective to track down her long lost friend, Doris, who is Jane’s mother. Then to Jane’s great disappointment, her biological mother, who has moved on with her life and has a family of her own, rejects her. Jane is disappointed and feels trapped. And Linda wants Jane out of the house and makes her know it. Later Jane’s biological mother accepts her after talking to her husband Phil, about her past and the daughter she had given up for adoption. And it was decided that Jane would go and live with them after school examinations. Then Linda meets with tragedy through her own carelessness and she is handicapped, needing assistance getting around, when suddenly she realizes that she needs Jane’s help. And Jane without question, willingly helps, while Linda complains and constantly gives Jane more difficulties. Linda had just recovered from her ordeal when David accuses her of murder and dumped her for Cathy. Then, for the second time tragedy strikes leaving Linda with permanent damage which ruins her beauty and totally destroys her. And again Linda needs Jane, who doesn’t fall for it. But when Jane hears Linda’s cries and pleads, she knew it came from the heart, but she wasn’t convinced. Jane’s mind was made up.
She was leaving for a new life with her biological mother, half brother and stepfather. Linda has lost all her friends and she had no idea that Tessa her best friend had been secretly working against her to win David over. Tessa and her aunt Mavis practiced witch-craft, conjuring up all sorts of magic spells and curses that nobody knew about, until Jane and Pamela uncovered their little ghost house and Linda gets in on the action and Tessa gets a surprise dose of her own medicine. And then when Jane’s biological father surfaces, everything changes. Jane finds herself in a dilemma. All three families are fighting over her. What do you think Jane’s decision was?
Book Contents.
The Ugly Face of Beauty.
Twenty-seven Chapters. length of novel approximately 88 081 words. number of pages 435.
BOOK REVIEWS HERE:
Synopsis: The Ugly Face of Beauty.
This is a crushing story of secrecy, deception, jealousy, vanity, mystery and tragedy. Linda and Jane, teenage sisters are at odds with each other. Linda is vain, beautiful, flaunts herself and is a show-off. She’s also heart less, arrogant, merciless and out of control, almost evil.
While Jane is the total opposite and Linda makes Jane’s life a living hell, toying with her emotions. The hate Linda feels and inflicts on Jane is extreme leaving Jane shattered to the point where Jane leaves to seek and orphanage home, where she lands a job helping out when Linda spoils things for her. She even destroys Jane’s paintings.
Linda feels that busy lawyer mother has no time for her and pays Jane more attention, which isn’t true. Linda is lazy, untidy and neglects her schoolwork and only has time for her spoilt brat boyfriend David, who is as arrogant and malicious as her. David is a flirt and is unfaithful and Linda finds out, which later in the story through jealousy leads to devastating tragic consequences between Linda and David’s other girlfriend, Cathy. However Jane uncovers a well-kept family secret and is totally crushed when she discovers the fact that she was adopted at birth. Jane finds this secret as a way of escaping from her dreadful life. And their mother Nancy hires a detective to track down her long lost friend, Doris, who is Jane’s mother. Then to Jane’s great disappointment, her biological mother, who has moved on with her life and has a family of her own, rejects her. Jane is disappointed and feels trapped. And Linda wants Jane out of the house and makes her know it. Later Jane’s biological mother accepts her after talking to her husband Phil, about her past and the daughter she had given up for adoption. And it was decided that Jane would go and live with them after school examinations. Then Linda meets with tragedy through her own carelessness and she is handicapped, needing assistance getting around, when suddenly she realizes that she needs Jane’s help. And Jane without question, willingly helps, while Linda complains and constantly gives Jane more difficulties. Linda had just recovered from her ordeal when David accuses her of murder and dumped her for Cathy. Then for the second time tragedy strikes leaving Linda with permanent damage which ruins her beauty and totally destroys her. And again Linda needs Jane, who doesn’t fall for it. But when Jane hears Linda’s cries and pleads, she knew it came from the heart, but she wasn’t convinced. Jane’s mind was made up.
She was leaving for a new life with her biological mother, half brother and stepfather. Linda has lost all her friends and she had no idea that Tessa her best friend had been secretly working against her to win David over. Tessa and her aunt Mavis practiced witch-craft, conjuring up all sorts of magic spells and curses that nobody knew about, until Jane and Pamela uncovered their little ghost house and Linda gets in on the action and Tessa gets a surprise dose of her own medicine. And then when Jane’s biological father surfaces, everything changes. Jane finds herself in a dilemma. All three families are fighting over her. What do you think Jane’s decision was?
Twenty-seven Chapters. length of novel approx. words. numb
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
After College, worked for the government and later I became my own boss and ran a successful Modelling School. Then I moved and worked for an advertising company for a while, and then a stay at home mum. Later I put my efforts into teaching speech and drama to young children and was also a part time English tutor. During this time I enrolled with the Writing School and successfully completed a four-year Comprehensive course, which I completed in two years earning me the Writing School's Diploma. And since then I've been writing and enjoying it very much. I also obtained a Certificate from the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry Examinations Board for: English for Commerce. A Certificate of Merit was awarded to me for drama from the
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
After College, worked for the government and later I became my own boss and ran a successful Modelling School. Then I moved and worked for an advertising company for a while, and then a stay at home mum. Later I put my efforts into teaching speech and drama to young children and was also a part time English tutor. During this time I enrolled with the Writing School and successfully completed a four-year Comprehensive course, which I completed in two years earning me the Writing School's Diploma. And since then I've been writing and enjoying it very much. I also obtained a Certificate from the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry Examinations Board for: English for Commerce. A Certificate of Merit was aw
Hello Jennifer
I decided to read the whole manuscript, and not just a few chapters, to enable me to have a clear picture of the story. I felt reading just a couple of chapters would not do justice to the topic of your story.
The Ugly Face of Beauty is a very powerful story and shows all the emotions of jealousy, deep-seated anger, hatred, kindness and love. The story is true of many siblings that it will strike a chord with those in the same or similar situations and therefore they will be able to associate with it. Its a story that can give hope and inspiration for those who want to change their situation or life, help those who are unable to change it immediately. Many valuable lessons are withing the pages.
From the voice of the story, although good for an adult audience, I feel it will strike a particular chord with young adults. Its starts with action, which continues throughout the book, right to the end, and is written in such a way as to make the reader want to keep reading to find out what happens to Linda and Jane.
The story is sound, all the characters are strong and play an equal part, no-one has been left out or forgotten. You can feel the strength of the characters, their feelings and emotions as one works through the story. The survival retaliation by Jane against Linda is nicely balanced. Nancy portrays a single mum, struggling to survive and raise two teenage girls. There is not much about Nancy herself, and her own feelings and thoughts, although this story is meant to be about Linda and Jane, and it achieves that aim and remains focused on them throughout.
The story line is very strong. I feel your book ought to be published as this story rings so true to life and could help so many people, not only young adults but older people as well; I think anyone who reads it will be touched by the emotions portrayed, especially by the main characters Jane and Linda, and associate with it in one way or another. It will also reach those you write about in your summary. The messages are strong and clear.
Warm regards
Linda Lycett
Editor
Sydney, Australia
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Dear Mrs King
The Ugly Face of Beauty
It was a pleasure to receive your manuscript of The Ugly Face of Beauty recently. In my capacity as Commissioning Editor, it is my duty to assess the publication potential of every manuscript that we receive, prepare a Reader’s Report and, with my colleagues, decide whether or not we wish to make an offer of publication.
I have now had the opportunity to read and appraise the manuscript and as expected it proved to be of great interest. As you may be aware I receive many works for consideration but I do feel that yours stands out in terms of quality, publishing potential and readability. If I may, I will use extracts from the Reader’s Report that I have had prepared to illustrate my findings:
This manuscript comes with a small mystery attached to it.
The Ugly Face of Beauty is a densely plotted psychological drama about the fragility of beauty, and therefore its inadequacy as a foundation for self esteem; it is also about how beauty can be a mask for inner ugliness. The novel tells the story of two teenage sisters, Jane and Linda. Jane is physically unattractive but intelligent and good-hearted. Linda, on the other hand, is beautiful but selfish, shallow and cruel. The binary opposition of these characters – the stark contrast of protagonist and antagonist – is reminiscent of Victorian fiction, and indeed the story has a matching flavour, capturing the hugely eventful, rollercoaster plotting of that period, as the opposing characters’ fortunes counterpoint each other, leading to a conclusion in which they each get their just deserts. If you are one of the many who feel that character-driven high drama (sometimes touching on melodrama) is something sadly lacking in modern fiction, the The Ugly Face of Beauty is for you. The story is filled with clashes, conciliations, heartbreak and hidden secrets: a veritable brew of drama, yet entirely modern – even hip – in its outward character, despite its revivalist narrative form.
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Although set in South Africa, the sense of specificity of place is downplayed, and the universality of the story dominates; it could have been set anywhere in the western world, and readers everywhere can enjoy and identify with it.
The author has provided a detailed synopsis, so there is no need to rehearse the plot in any great detail here; what we are mainly concerned with is the quality of the storytelling and characterisation.
The opening chapters are devoted to character and situational establishment, setting the scene and building up a firm and credible picture of the leading characters. Plain Jane is put-upon and bullied by her beautiful sister: Linda seems, on close reading, to be expressing deeply buried inadequacies in her campaign of persecution against Jane, losing no opportunity to bully, tease and belittle her, even orchestrating her friends to join in. Jane’s life is miserable: not only is she a friendless outcast socially, she also has doubts about her identity, finding no points of resemblance in her and Linda’s single mother, the beautiful Nancy. Indeed, she is a true ugly duckling, having been adopted by Nancy. Jane’s discovery of this secret – and her subsequent rejection when she approaches her natural mother – is one of the many trials she has to endure.
Jane is an interesting, intriguing and engaging character. Given the circumstances, a weak writer might have given her a thoroughly downtrodden, Cinderella-like personality, thus giving us an anaemic, hamstrung plot. But Jane has considerable reserves of feistiness which periodically rise to the surface (and ultimately lead the way to her triumph). This gives a powerful push-pull dimension to the drama, and an edge of tension. The reader feels that Jane has the strength to carry her through, but that it is closely matched by the degree of adversity facing her. This is intelligent in terms of both character and plot, offering the reader no guarantees that Jane will win through.
While Jane pushes ahead in her struggle to find herself a life and combat her disadvantages and disappointments, Linda’s life begins to nose-dive. She is betrayed by her boyfriend and by her superficial friends, and experiences the ultimate tragedy: the destruction of her physical outer shell. First a horse-riding accident disables her; then she is caught in a house fire and is badly burned. Her beauty destroyed, and with no other features to redeem her, she is a ruined person. The people she thought of as her friends – whose callousness she employed to torment Jane – now turn their cruelty against her.
Naturally (given the structuring principles of the novel), her tragic misfortunes lead Linda to a reconciliation with Jane. For Jane this is the beginning of a catharsis which is completed in the novel’s emotional climax when she is reunited with her natural father, and finds in him a figure she can respect, love and identify with.
In conclusion, The Ugly Face of Beauty is a very involving and emotionally satisfying read. Structurally it has much in common, as I’ve said, with the Victorian approach to dramatic fiction, not the least of which is its anchoring in a fragile, highly sympathetic and complex leading character. Its ending in reconciliation and cathartic emotional fulfilment is another point of resemblance. It nonetheless feels like a wholly modern story, having conquered the best of both worlds. I recommend it.
As you can see from the Reader’s Report, we found The Ugly Face of Beauty to be a work of considerable merit that has many things in its favour, not least the emotional weight of the narrative and the cathartic quality of the work. Any resulting publication would have a potential target readership amongst a wide mainstream audience. The Ugly Face of Beauty would generate a great deal of interest, and I would envisage The Ugly Face of Beauty retailing at a price in the region of £..
With best wishes
Yours sincerely
Austin Kehoe
Commissioning Editor
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
After College, worked for the government and later I became my own boss and ran a successful Modelling School. Then I moved and worked for an advertising company for a while, and then a stay at home mum. Later I put my efforts into teaching speech and drama to young children and was also a part time English tutor. During this time I enrolled with the Writing School and successfully completed a four-year Comprehensive course, which I completed in two years earning me the Writing School's Diploma. And since then I've been writing and enjoying it very much. I also obtained a Certificate from the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry Examinations Board for: English for Commerce. A Certificate of Merit was awarded to me for drama from the Council for Culture and Recreation in South Africa
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WHY THIS BOOK SHOULD BE PUBLISHED
The Ugly Face of Beauty
This book tells a story that will open the minds and hearts of those who live in the world of beauty, hoping that they’ll see beyond beauty and take notice of other talents and fine qualities that sometimes go unnoticed in people who don’t share the same interest as them. Beauty, popularity, wealth and perfection, how does this fit into our everyday lives?
In today’s society we are plagued by perfection. Just looking at all the glitz and glamour advertised in shops, magazines, television and fashion shows portraying perfect images of Models all made up to look a certain way is enough to make an ordinary person feel not good enough. And most teenagers are stressed out because they are not happy about the way they look and sometimes this could lead to stress, anorexia, steroid use, plastic surgery, slimming aids and drugs, all in the name of vanity. How vain are you and how far will you go in the name of beauty.
The world has become fixated on beauty and glamour and teens feel it the most. They want recognition and acceptance and compliments. And if they can’t meet the expectations of others then they are rejected, in a bad way. Cruel jokes and remarks, hate mail, ugly insults and much more which could lead to devastating results, like suicide, or sometimes become introverts living in an egg shell afraid to step out in society where prying judgmental eyes are roaming looking to pounce on them because they don’t fit in or meet their expectations. This book is a reality of what goes on in the minds of many who are beautiful, vain and flawless. It takes a hard look at beauty and the pain it can cause. What would you do if you lost your looks? Would you go down gracefully or would you reeve havoc on your body to perfect it, no matter what the cost. And what about inner beauty, does that count? Are you judging people on their appearance, their outer shell. Beauty comes from within. One can never judge a book by its cover. Open the book and read its contents. Same as, get to know the person, their character, see their personality through conversation, or by participating in some activity, together which is highly engaging. Vanity has become an obsession with many.
Can one also say that it is evil; being human and never satisfied with the way you are and how you look and taking beauty to the extremes? Evil comes in many forms. Is vanity one of the many obsessions?
Many will deny that fact. And beauty is a billion dollar thriving industry. Everyone wants to look their best, and that is good. However beauty has become competitive, expensive and stressful. Who was the best, outstanding lady and who was the worst? So the tabloids read.
Vanity is a cruel game. Today you’re hot, tomorrow you’re not, because you had one off day and now you’re history. “Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the most fairest of them all? Wicked! Snow White is the purest and fairest.” Are we all living a lie? Are we true to ourselves? Or are people just living in fantasy land. What would you choose health or beauty? You’d probably say, both. But we simply cannot have it all. And many want to be fairer than Snow White. Ready to out shine the other one and be beauty queen, who’s admired, always, and refuse to be second best. People become jealous, envious full of rage, vengeful, angry, when the spot light fades from them and begins to shine on another. You’re so vain that you would go through the pain and then some … Are you just beautiful and nothing else? Using your well perfected body and beauty to get by. Does that still work in today’s society. Are we programmed to think that beauty rules over everything else. Anyway beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What appears to be unattractive to one person, may appear very beautiful to another person. It’s the way one sees a thing. God made us all beautiful, each person unique, and we should embrace our unique qualities, and physical features and be happy. I definitely think this book should be published. And not only is it for teen’s, adults would enjoy this book too. This is vanity at its worst, a real nightmare which will leave readers emotionally shocked. The moral of the story: “Beauty is only skin deep.”
Thank you for reading.
Jenny Penny Books.
Author: Jennifer King.
Other Books by author Jennifer King:
Ahisha The Mermaid
Ahisha's Earthly Encounter series - part three to come shortly.
The Trouble With Flute
Twisted Edges
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