Queen of Beauty

by Paula Morris

See also alternate cover edition for this ISBN here.

Virginia Ngatea Seton leaves New Orleans, where she works as a researcher for a historical novelist, and returns home to Auckland for the wedding of her younger sister. Drawn back into the world of her Pakeha-Maori family, Virginia rediscovers many family stories and legends. She learns how the city of her youth has inextricably changed, as surely as the country of her grandparents is gone forever.

At turns haunting, moving and comic, Queen of Beauty spans three generations. Shifting between modern-day New Orleans and Auckland, as well as New Zealand of the 1920s and 1960s, it explores the fragility of truth, the elusiveness of the past and the burden it places on the living.

Genres: Fiction

310 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Paula Morris, a novelist and short story writer of English and Maori descent, was born in New Zealand. For almost a decade she worked in the record business in London and New York. She now lives in New Orleans, where she teaches creative writing at Tulane University.

Paula's first novel, Queen of Beauty, won best first work of fiction at the 2003 Montana New Zealand Book Awards. Hibiscus Coast, a literary thriller set in Auckland and Shanghai, was published in 2005 and has been optioned for film. Her third novel, Trendy But Casual, was published by Penguin New Zealand in 2005.

Paula's first short story collection, Forbidden Cities (2008) was a regional finalist in the 2009 Commonwealth Writers' Prize.

Ruined, her first YA novel, was published by Scholastic in 2009.

Reviews

[Sunflower · Rating 3 out of 5]

The great thing about reading novels set in one's home country is the flashes of recognition. This is a book whose strength is the characterisation, and the simple, day-to-day happenings within the families of the story while shifting between the generations.
Two things I found really interesting: 1. the title appears in several different guises in the story. (I find myself enjoying the "aha" moment when reading a book and finding the meaning for the title)
2. The author gave herself five stars for this book.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Paula Morris has created a really intimate and deep look at a lot of themes surrounding home and storytelling. I really liked the flow of the story and the interconnections of everything, even though this story is technically set in two very different places. Really enjoyed Morris' writing style, absolutely beautiful

[Reff Girl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of a muddle

[Caroline Barron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let’s just say I’ve already downloaded Morris’ most recent adult novel, 'Rangatira'. Boy can this girl write. 'Queen of Beauty' was Morris’ first novel written as her Masters project at Victoria (Wellington) University, which won a best fiction prize at the Montana New Zealand book awards in 2003. Not a bad start to a writing career; one that followed a stellar career as a music industry exec. The harder one works, the luckier one gets…

I think sometimes you read a book at just the right moment in your life; a book that seems stacked with coincidences and signposts for your own life. These things won’t mean much to most but had me in conniptions – Speight Road, Leigh, Waikumete Cemetary, the meaning of home. This book actually helped me make an enormous life decision.

Enough about me, back to the book. It took me a while to figure out who was who and what year we were in, but Morris pulls it all together as she develops the story. The structure and tone is very much like a memoir and I can’t help but think some of the story strands must be based on Morris’ life or experiences. As a new writer I’m particularly interested in the grey area between fact and fiction, and how to structure fiction based on true events.

I enjoyed the contrast between New Orleans and New Zealand, particularly Virginia’s phone calls with Arthur while she was back in New Zealand, and the feeling so common amongst Kiwis returning home after their OEs; their not really fitting in, in either place.

The book is written in third person, but shifts perspective around various characters. It works well but I wonder if a few more chapter headings would have helped steer the reader. I loved that Leeander went from villain to hero after the bathroom incident but it did make me question Leander’s earlier vitriolic thoughts about Virginia. A little too much, perhaps.

Morris tackles some big themes: the meaning of home, hidden agendas in friendships, whose job is it to safeguard family history, what it means to be Maori or Pakeha or a mixture of both. She deals with these themes well, but it definitely feels like a first novel. Even after just a few chapters of 'Rangatira' I can see how her style and sophistication as a writer has developed in the decade since.

Whatever the case, I’m hooked. I’m a fan. Thank you Paula Morris.

Favorite Quote:

“That’s why people sent postcards rather than letters when they went on holiday. That’s why people talked about the weather and houses and names of things, because what you felt about a place couldn’t be put into words.”

Not from the book, but from an interview with Morris on www.bookdivas.com:
I get very antsy when I’m too busy to write, or read, or think about my work. So a big change was necessary, to make a different sort of life possible.

[zespri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose this book as is by a New Zealand author, and Paula Morris won an award for writing it.

Virginia is a kiwi working in New Orleans as a researcher for an author. Her sister is getting married and Virginia heads home for the wedding. There is the usual catching up with friends and relatives, but the book took on depth when the author went a little deeper and the past was related along with the present. I enjoyed the way the author wove Virginia's family history into the narrative, especially aspects of her maori heritage.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the quiet way that Morris shows her characters, without judging - just letting us get to know them.

[Allison Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Morris delves into the sensory details of place. Her story unfolds in a way that is never forced, but is resonant with meaning. She gets two lush landscapes beautifully right.