| Synopsis: |
'Behind The Smile' is a novel of the moving story of Lek, a bar girl in Pattaya, Thailand. It tells, from her point of view, how she drifted into the sex tourism industry and how she tried for years to get out of it again. The story tells of some of things that happened to her and her colleagues in the bar they worked in called 'Daddy's Hobby', but it also tells of her thoughts for her friends, her family and her 'boyfriends' - the customers. When she finally finds someone she can love and who loves her too, she agonizes over whether she will ever be able to stay with one man again after ten years of complete sexual and financial freedom with no-one to care for but herself. The situation is further aggravated because her boyfriend does not suspect what she used to do for a living. Or does he really? The title of this novel is based on the fact that Thailand is commonly referred to as 'The land of Smiles'. |