Behind The Smile - A Review of The New Novel By Owen Jones 'Behind The Smile: the story of Lek, a Thai bar girl in Pattaya' is the first novel of Owen Jones. It became available on April 19th. 2012. Behind the Smile is a book that Mr. Jones says he has been trying to write for several years. It is set in Thailand, but the sort of people concerned are to be discovered in most countries in the world. The story is not an atypical one in richer as well as poorer countries: a young woman gets married but her husband soon realizes that he is too young to be tied to one woman and live a life of drudgery. He starts partying and sleeping about. His wife, not being prepared to put up with this, separates from him. The difficulty arises in Third World countries that people have no state funds to fall back on, which is why family ties are so all vital. You could easily die without the support of your family. This usually works well, but not always. In Lek's case her father dies at an early age and leaves massive debts to the bank with the farm as security. The future looks bleak as Lek's mother is not able to do more than she is already doing. Lek could start to help out, but a farm girl's wages are a pittance. One brother is already working, but the other is too young. At a family pow-wow, they unwillingly decide that there is no alternative but to send Lek away to a big city to earn, where she will at least be able to pay the bank's repayment installments off each month. Lek goes to Pattaya where a relation owns a small bar. She is given a position as a waitress and she loves the thrill of the work. The dazzling lights, deafening music and attentive men are new to her. A month or so thereafter, she realizes that she is pregnant with her ex-husband's child. That is a total disaster, because it threatens her ability to pay off the bank, which would bankrupt her mother and siblings. This book, 'Behind The Smile', looks at Lek's life from her own point of view and follows her through her fun and frustrations. It tries to show her thought processes and tell you, the reader, why she takes certain courses of action and what she may rather be doing instead. You get to be privy to Lek's hopes and fears as the book takes you through a very important part of her life. You meet her friends, family, colleagues and boyfriends and you get to see what makes Lek tick A central theme of this book is not to judge a book by its cover; not to be to quick to judge at all, in fact, and above all, to be wary of what you wish for lest it comes true and there are unforeseen consequences The title of the book, 'Behind the Smile', derives from the fact that Thailand is famous as The Land of Smiles.
Owen Jones has just published his first book which is entitled Behind The Smile: the story of Lek, a Thai bargirl in Pattaya in Thailand.