Book Review: Sultry Days

Book Review: Sultry Days

Author: Shobha De

Publisher: Penguin Books

First Published: 1994

Shobha De – is well known personality India, she used to write articles in leading newspaper ‘Times of India’, she wrote several Books, and I think she was editor for some magazine also. Her claim to fame is in being politically incorrect and being critical and bitchy about everything. This is true for her articles in newspaper, But this is first time I am reading any of her book. So I picked up this book to check out what’s new she can offer through other mediums.

I don’t know how people rate her as author on her overall work but judging by this book she seems pretty naive in writing novels that too fiction. I am not at all impressed how she developed the book and more importantly characters of the novel although there was lot of scope for her in it.

The book is about a city girl who can be best described as no ambition girl or lost confused girl called Nisha. The book is about nisha and her life, she herself narrates it. It starts of with line when nisha meets God and fell in love with him. That is how the book is marketed. When you read that you feel wow what a great fiction lying ahead of us. But your hopes come crashing down in first few pages. As you know that God is Nisha’s love interest who is “I know all and I give a damm” kind of guy, who’s name is Deb and call as God by his friends because Deb literally means in English as God. And you lost interest in the book.

It’s not like book is totally let down, because the book is based on a high society life of dream city Mumbai. Which is also known as Page 3 circle and everyone is more than curious about what does happen in these parties, how is the personal life of these page 3 socialite. And that’s what Shobha De described in this book. It is full of manipulation with the means of money, position, sex, power. It has all the agitation, lots of bitching we recently seen in Madhur Bhandarkar’s movie “Page 3”. I will say instead of reading this book you can go and watch that movie which puts better light on these high society life which was so long was a myth for normal people.

Other thing is this supposed to be a novel but it turn out accumulation of short stories. In the process of writing the story of Nisha and her life Shobha De start giving whole life history of each and every character Nisha met. And that’s why I said she failed to develop any one character not even the protagonist's.

I believe this is just her second novel and there will be improvement in her writing for next books. For those of you who can avoid reading this book, its good for you. Those who can’ God bless you. If I have to rate the book I will give 4 out of 10.

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