Customer Reviews

The Beauty

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I read this book because of its Newport, RI connections and this author has really nailed the place. Her characters are not even outragous. Believe me, they are REAL. These folks exist and it's alot of fun to follow them on their escapades, capers and social faux pas. It's witty, it's also sad, and ofcourse it's hysterically funny. I am so looking forward to "Seasick" because Ms. Nagy has an amazing way with just the perfect phrases that decribe her charcters social messes. This book would make a hella of a good movie. It's got everything.

The more I read, the more repulsive and scary this material became to me. So, I stopped reading and made a point of throwing it in the trash, something I've only done with one other book in my life.

What happens when a rapturously beautiful but psychopathic Jezebel meets a good natured bachelor whose family background straddles both sides of the tracks? Serious trouble. And The Beauty dishes it out in generous quantities. John Duckworth is an ex-crime reporter who escapes the fast lane of life and work in New York for a slower pace at Cape Cod and sedate Newport, RI, where he grew up. He and his emotionally fragile sister, Faith, open an inn at the Cape, which quickly becomes a popular destination after sultry Jasmine Jones goes quickly from being guest to co-manager. Things couldn't be sweeter: lots of business, Faith and her daughter, Pebbles, thriving; John falls in love with Sari, the earthy ex-wife of his book agent. Then Nagy gets the plot wheels spinning till they're smoking. A plague of rats strikes the inn, killing business. Pebbles inexplicably puts on more weight. Her new puppy is beheaded. Sari ditches John after he is seduced by the manipulative Jasmine. Then the bodies pile up: John's agent, his grandmother, his friend's daughter, his sister Faith, by grisly suicide. John puts two-and-two together. His sleuthing reveals Jasmine is behind all the evil, but not without his falling again for her witchy wiles. The quickening pace keeps the reader turning the pages right up to the surprise climax.


A hallmark of Nagy is her scalpel-like dissection of New York and Newport social elites: "Most (Newport men) grew up to be well-bred, well-dressed, well-educated losers drifting along on the current of apathy and appearances, too afraid of failure - of sailing outside their ancestral bay - to risk doing anything on their own." And her acerbic commentary on the condition of turn-of-the-century homo modernus: "We are an egotistic, stubborn, and lazy genus; we do not like to admit we've been mistaken, easier just to keep skipping down the wrong road, hoping there's a way out without having to go all the way back to the point of confusion." Her stories call up the detailed and critical social commentary of Fitzgerald and James as well as the satire and woman's view of Olivia Goldsmith. The Beauty will seduce you with memorable characters, plot twists and that uncomfortable feeling that that very attractive person who is taking an interest in you may be more than you had bargained for. Much more.