Socialite Evenings

Karuna, a prominent Bombay socialite, turns to her memoirs to escape a painful present marked by divorce and failed affairs. As she chronicles her journey from a middle-class girl to a society figure, the lives of her circle unfold—neurotic Anjali, vivacious Ritu, outrageous Si, and others whose ambitions and desires mirror Karuna's own struggles. Shobhaa De's debut novel captures the glittering but often hollow world of Mumbai's elite through the eyes of a woman confronting her past.