Beauty: A suspense novel of survival, with a heartwarming friendship at its center.

Shuffling along together, we resemble grim-faced prisoners on a forced march. Office Retief opens a door and we both squeeze by, as conjoined twins, neither of us willing to let the other go. We are in an enclosed, windowless interrogation room. Does he suspect Beauty killed her husband, and I am lying to protect her? My heart hammers against my rib cage, and I feel paralyzed with fear.

Beauty, tells the story of a Black maid and her White madam. Their positions in the segregated and racist society of South Africa, under Apartheid rule, could not have been more opposite. Yet, the similarity in their lives is striking. Both young minds were molded by the teachings of Catholic nuns, then in adulthood, they both married alcoholic and abusive husbands. What would you do to escape a frightening marriage? This question ends up forging a forbidden relationship between two women in circumstances, on a twisted odyssey neither of them could ever have envisioned.

A darkly funny examination of an unusual friendship and what happens when there is no way out and nothing left to lose.