What do you think?
Rate this book
Socialite Evenings
Karuna, a prominent Bombay socialite, is trying to flee the nightmare of the present by escaping into the past. An unhappy divorce and a succession of sordid affairs have left her bruised and battered and, in an effort to forget, Karuna begins writing her memoirs. As the story of her life unfolds we see how the gauche middle-class girl metamorphoses into a star--and we also meet her friends and enemies: neurotic, man-hungry Anjali; gorgeous, vivacious Ritu; trampy, outrageous Si; Abe, who prefers young girls; Varun, a high-profile editor with a penchant for young boys; Krish, the pretentious adman, whose wife actively helps him in his extra-marital affairs; Girish, the art-film maker in search of the perfect 'Shakuntala'...All of these characters and more play out their lives against the backdrop of Bombay--a city unique unto itself...
493 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 1, 1991
21 people are currently reading
292 people want to read
About the author
Shobhaa Dé
62 books155 followersShobha Rajadhyaksha known as Shobhaa Dé is an Indian columnist and novelist. She graduated from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai with a degree in psychology. After making her name as a model, she began a career in journalism in 1970, during the course of which she founded and edited three magazines – Stardust, Society, and Celebrity.
In the 1980s, she contributed to the Sunday magazine section of the Times of India. In her columns, she used to explore the socialite life in Bombay lifestyles of the celebrities. At present, she is a freelance writer and columnist for several newspapers and magazines.
De is married to Dilip De, her second husband and they have six children from their first marriages. She lives in Cuffe Parade, Mumbai.
In the 1980s, she contributed to the Sunday magazine section of the Times of India. In her columns, she used to explore the socialite life in Bombay lifestyles of the celebrities. At present, she is a freelance writer and columnist for several newspapers and magazines.
De is married to Dilip De, her second husband and they have six children from their first marriages. She lives in Cuffe Parade, Mumbai.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
June 6, 2018
I don't even know where to start this review from!
Concept: 2.0/5.0
Execution: 2.0/5.0
Characters Bespoken: 0.5/5.0
Cover: 1.0/5.0
Overall: 1.25/5.0
P.S.: Maybe I read this because I had lost my mind!
Concept: 2.0/5.0
Execution: 2.0/5.0
Characters Bespoken: 0.5/5.0
Cover: 1.0/5.0
Overall: 1.25/5.0
P.S.: Maybe I read this because I had lost my mind!
August 10, 2016
Trash, plain and simple.
This was my first time reading a book by Shobhaa Dé and it will be my last.
The story is cliched, tawdry and boring. The writing is mediocre at best.
I picked it up because she had written for Times of India. I was disappointed.
This was my first time reading a book by Shobhaa Dé and it will be my last.
The story is cliched, tawdry and boring. The writing is mediocre at best.
I picked it up because she had written for Times of India. I was disappointed.
August 24, 2024
Idk why I put it in my phone to read, guilty pleasure maybe?
June 11, 2012
Okay, so, I admit. i picked this book up from the library solely on the basis of the cover.
Having that out of the way, I have very mixed feelings about Socialite Evenings. The book is an epitome of an oxymoron. I wanted to PUT IT DOWN, yet I couldn't resist a few pages. There were times when I went, WHY ON EARTH HAVEN'T THEY MADE THIS INTO A MOVIE? and then start thinking of the various actors to play the characters and blah blah. But at some point, I'd go like, thank goodness. This would make for a very very dull movie.
To sum this up in one word: the book is CLICHE. EVERYTHING. The storyline to characters. Everything. But if you're looking for a piece of chick-lit, with torrid affairs, the so called glamor of 'high society' a bored wife and all that, go ahead.
Having that out of the way, I have very mixed feelings about Socialite Evenings. The book is an epitome of an oxymoron. I wanted to PUT IT DOWN, yet I couldn't resist a few pages. There were times when I went, WHY ON EARTH HAVEN'T THEY MADE THIS INTO A MOVIE? and then start thinking of the various actors to play the characters and blah blah. But at some point, I'd go like, thank goodness. This would make for a very very dull movie.
To sum this up in one word: the book is CLICHE. EVERYTHING. The storyline to characters. Everything. But if you're looking for a piece of chick-lit, with torrid affairs, the so called glamor of 'high society' a bored wife and all that, go ahead.
March 17, 2016
Read it long long ago. I remember liking it. Even otherwise it should be the best of what Shobhaa de wrote.
December 7, 2024
This was just a tsunami of bad decisions that gave me secondhand embarrassment after secondhand embarrassment. a chick lit to the very spaces between letters, the characters are outrageously absurd in their preoccupations. I could relate well to the protagonist at the very beginning, when she is listing her years as an ambitious and youthful rebel and her adoration of the first upper-society person that deigned to throw her a bone. Then gradually, more characters come into view as the protag is ensnared in the trappings of high society. Sex-hungry women, casual strippers, doomed flings, oppressive marriages, gratuitous and neverending lists of brands, churlish men, gay men, religious reformation gimmick, illegal business dealings, strange and freakish obsessions, myriad trips abroad, flirtations, all gave me an unnerving sense of ennui and despair. Of course, that did not stop me from reading more, because I wanted to believe there was some redemption on the way. I was sorely disappointed.
However, what I did like was the protagonist's cynicism. Most prominent in her exchanges with her mentor-turned-best friend Anjali (this character was crazy to read about) and the compelling flirt Ritu, she denounces their flings (especially the disastrous webs that Anjali traps herself in), remains unmoved in her decision to stay single after her divorce, and remains a dry, unsexed subject for the most part of the book. What I mean by the latter is that it was a surprisingly good portrayal of someone who could be asexual, and I found a little bit of joy in her being not exactly averse to sex - she would tolerate the occasional sex with the husband, and even in her fling with the theatre guy, it wasn't even mentioned with any importance until we find out about the pregnancy - and yet cracking vulgar and obscene jokes. More realistic than what modern mainstream media thinks of the glammed up label of asexuality.
This was my first chick-lit book, and my first Shobhaa De book too. I was passingly curious about the high society of Mumbai, and so I picked this up. Final verdict: It's just like an extended gossip. column.
However, what I did like was the protagonist's cynicism. Most prominent in her exchanges with her mentor-turned-best friend Anjali (this character was crazy to read about) and the compelling flirt Ritu, she denounces their flings (especially the disastrous webs that Anjali traps herself in), remains unmoved in her decision to stay single after her divorce, and remains a dry, unsexed subject for the most part of the book. What I mean by the latter is that it was a surprisingly good portrayal of someone who could be asexual, and I found a little bit of joy in her being not exactly averse to sex - she would tolerate the occasional sex with the husband, and even in her fling with the theatre guy, it wasn't even mentioned with any importance until we find out about the pregnancy - and yet cracking vulgar and obscene jokes. More realistic than what modern mainstream media thinks of the glammed up label of asexuality.
This was my first chick-lit book, and my first Shobhaa De book too. I was passingly curious about the high society of Mumbai, and so I picked this up. Final verdict: It's just like an extended gossip. column.
July 4, 2019
The Year Was 1989 When
#SHOBHAADE Penned This Instant Bestseller Which Was Also Her Serious Foray Into Turning An Author Long After She Had Well Established Her Writing Credentials As a Film Journalist Way Back In 1972 When She Brought Alive Stardust As It's Founding Editor & Virtually Changed The Face Of Film Journalism In India!!
The Very Fact That SHOBHAA DE Penned Socialite Evenings in 1989 & Till 2011 It Was Still Being Reprinted In Various Editions Across The 🌍 Speaks Volumes For The Grip That SHOBHAA DE Has On Her Readers...And For Those Who May Wonder That #SocialiteEvenings Was Merely A Fluke Or A Flash In The Pan...Just Dismiss The Thought Because From Socialite Evenings Her First Undisputed Worldwide Bestseller right across 2015 She Has Produced 17 More Novels Thus Making Her 'India's Superstar Novelist' As Socialite Evenings Happens To Be The First Book Penned By SHOBHAA DE After Having Been The Founding Editor Of Stardust & Her Successfully Emerging As A Globally Acclaimed Syndicated Columnist This Book & Her Writing Has Heavy Shades Of A Never Ending Stardust Annual Or Better Still A Neeta's Natter Column That Virtually Keeps You Enthralled & Gripped By It's Powerful Narrative. So if You Have Grown Up Alongside The Original Stardust Back In The Early '70's When SHOBHA (Minus The Extra 'A' Then KILACHAND) was it's Maiden Editor & You Flipped For Her Uniquely Original Style Of Film Journalism Then Indeed Socialite Evenings Would Truly Be Unputdownable...Right From Chapter 1 To The Epilogue...All 381 Pages Of It!!
#SHOBHAADE Penned This Instant Bestseller Which Was Also Her Serious Foray Into Turning An Author Long After She Had Well Established Her Writing Credentials As a Film Journalist Way Back In 1972 When She Brought Alive Stardust As It's Founding Editor & Virtually Changed The Face Of Film Journalism In India!!
The Very Fact That SHOBHAA DE Penned Socialite Evenings in 1989 & Till 2011 It Was Still Being Reprinted In Various Editions Across The 🌍 Speaks Volumes For The Grip That SHOBHAA DE Has On Her Readers...And For Those Who May Wonder That #SocialiteEvenings Was Merely A Fluke Or A Flash In The Pan...Just Dismiss The Thought Because From Socialite Evenings Her First Undisputed Worldwide Bestseller right across 2015 She Has Produced 17 More Novels Thus Making Her 'India's Superstar Novelist' As Socialite Evenings Happens To Be The First Book Penned By SHOBHAA DE After Having Been The Founding Editor Of Stardust & Her Successfully Emerging As A Globally Acclaimed Syndicated Columnist This Book & Her Writing Has Heavy Shades Of A Never Ending Stardust Annual Or Better Still A Neeta's Natter Column That Virtually Keeps You Enthralled & Gripped By It's Powerful Narrative. So if You Have Grown Up Alongside The Original Stardust Back In The Early '70's When SHOBHA (Minus The Extra 'A' Then KILACHAND) was it's Maiden Editor & You Flipped For Her Uniquely Original Style Of Film Journalism Then Indeed Socialite Evenings Would Truly Be Unputdownable...Right From Chapter 1 To The Epilogue...All 381 Pages Of It!!
Read
March 31, 2025Shobhaa De - Socialite Evenings
This is a shocking revelation of the lifestyle of the affluent in Bombay’s high society. With portrayals of glamorous and abused divorcees, battered housewives, husbands and wives engaging in extramarital affairs, men who prefer respectability in society to a loving wife and family, the rich and the famous flaunting their immorality and ostentation, trampy wives, closeted homosexuals, and hocus spiritual leaders, it reveals a startling side of a decadent society that is intellectually and spiritually bankrupt.
The narrator is Karuna, the youngest of three daughters raised by traditional middle-class parents. Karuna befriends Anjali, a glamorous socialite, who offers her the opportunity to be everything she ever wanted to be, and eventually she becomes a social celebrity herself. The story follows Karuna’s life and career, her unhappy marriage to a wealthy magnate, her divorce and affairs, and her success as an advertising copywriter. It is through her eyes that we get a close-up of the lives of the seductive women, the flamboyant men, and the sad reality of a society steeped in moral bankruptcy.
Shobhaa De is a good writer but the story didn’t quite resonate with me. The novel lacked depth and there were times when I felt like putting it down.
This is a shocking revelation of the lifestyle of the affluent in Bombay’s high society. With portrayals of glamorous and abused divorcees, battered housewives, husbands and wives engaging in extramarital affairs, men who prefer respectability in society to a loving wife and family, the rich and the famous flaunting their immorality and ostentation, trampy wives, closeted homosexuals, and hocus spiritual leaders, it reveals a startling side of a decadent society that is intellectually and spiritually bankrupt.
The narrator is Karuna, the youngest of three daughters raised by traditional middle-class parents. Karuna befriends Anjali, a glamorous socialite, who offers her the opportunity to be everything she ever wanted to be, and eventually she becomes a social celebrity herself. The story follows Karuna’s life and career, her unhappy marriage to a wealthy magnate, her divorce and affairs, and her success as an advertising copywriter. It is through her eyes that we get a close-up of the lives of the seductive women, the flamboyant men, and the sad reality of a society steeped in moral bankruptcy.
Shobhaa De is a good writer but the story didn’t quite resonate with me. The novel lacked depth and there were times when I felt like putting it down.
June 29, 2024
I get why the reviews called this a ditzy novel - because it sort of is one. The characters are so superficial, the typical socialite from Mumbai hopping from one party to another and gossiping about random affairs. However, it was so entertaining and made me laugh at times; especially the character who is my namesake 'Anjali', her whole life trajectory was wild and how she ended up an overreligious modern mirabai had me laughing. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone, but it took my mind off things for a bit as I imagined 80's Mumbai, pre-social media and newspapers being the source of gossip. the good old days!
March 24, 2021
One book, good enough to traumatize you for life..
June 7, 2023
So awful I couldn’t finish
June 28, 2023
One thought i had always had in my mind is when will this book end.
I don't if it's my own taste or something but no this wasn't my cup of tea.⭐
I don't if it's my own taste or something but no this wasn't my cup of tea.⭐
March 31, 2018
This is first time I read Shobhaa De book although read her articles n no of times in Newspaper. This is Book is a reflection of this bold lady. I enjoyed her book which is a mirror to aristocratic, hypocritic and double standard socialite.
March 17, 2017
Very spicy and kitty party kind. Almost reminiscent of the movie Page 3. It was my companion in Mumbai airport.
August 5, 2015
Karuna, the novel’s main character narrates us through her life, from her modest, middle class beginnings to her eventual ascension into the socialite circles of Mumbai’s elite. The first third of the novel is dedicated to her complaining about her middle class background and dissatisfaction with the life she leads. We learn quite a bit about her “closest” friend Anjali, and at one point, a hundred or so pages into the book, I found myself trying to figure out who the actual main character is, since Karuna spends a good portion of the novel praising and simultaneously complaining about Anjali, the quintessential airheaded socialite. As the story slowly and painfully progresses, Karuna marries a childhood sweetheart in order to ascend to the upper class, and we hear about her unhappiness with her shallow marriage and bland husband. She continues to chronicle her boredom with marriage, her husband, and reality, choosing to lose herself in the literary world instead. Two-thirds into the novel, there is still no riveting anecdote or colorful moment that really captures your interest. Karuna continues to regale us of tales of infidelity, religious shams, and even a few mafia members make an appearance, and yet, she does so in such a lifeless, colorless tone, that we just shrug past it. Besides Karuna and Anjali, none of the characters are given much depth or personality, notably Karuna’s husband, which contributes to the novel’s lifeless storyline.
As I ended the book, I was disappointed on so many levels. The only semi-useful take-away from the novel that I got was the mentality of India’s middle class. Karuna discusses her thoughts and disappointment with being a part of the middle class, and even though India is nearly a world away from America, I found myself understanding some of her viewpoints. Nevertheless, this is definitely NOT a novel I would recommend to anyone unless you find yourself bored out of your mind with absolutely nothing else to do.
As I ended the book, I was disappointed on so many levels. The only semi-useful take-away from the novel that I got was the mentality of India’s middle class. Karuna discusses her thoughts and disappointment with being a part of the middle class, and even though India is nearly a world away from America, I found myself understanding some of her viewpoints. Nevertheless, this is definitely NOT a novel I would recommend to anyone unless you find yourself bored out of your mind with absolutely nothing else to do.
December 29, 2022
The Year Was 1989 When
#SHOBHAADE Penned This Instant Bestseller Which Was Also Her Serious Foray Into Turning An Author Long After She Had Well Established Her Writing Credentials As a Film Journalist Way Back In 1972 When She Brought Alive Stardust As It's Founding Editor & Virtually Changed The Face Of Film Journalism In India!!
The Very Fact That SHOBHAA DE Penned Socialite Evenings in 1989 & Till 2011 It Was Still Being Reprinted In Various Editions Across The 🌍 Speaks Volumes For The Grip That SHOBHAA DE Has On Her Readers...And For Those Who May Wonder That #SocialiteEvenings Was Merely A Fluke Or A Flash In The Pan...Just Dismiss The Thought Because From Socialite Evenings Her First Undisputed Worldwide Bestseller right across 2015 She Has Produced 17 More Novels Thus Making Her 'India's Superstar Novelist' As Socialite Evenings Happens To Be The First Book Penned By SHOBHAA DE After Having Been The Founding Editor Of Stardust & Her Successfully Emerging As A Globally Acclaimed Syndicated Columnist This Book & Her Writing Has Heavy Shades Of A Never Ending Stardust Annual Or Better Still A Neeta's Natter Column That Virtually Keeps You Enthralled & Gripped By It's Powerful Narrative. So if You Have Grown Up Alongside The Original Stardust Back In The Early '70's When SHOBHA (Minus The Extra 'A' Then KILACHAND) was it's Maiden Editor & You Flipped For Her Uniquely Original Style Of Film Journalism Then Indeed Socialite Evenings Would Truly Be Unputdownable...Right From Chapter 1 To The Epilogue...All 381 Pages Of It!!
#SHOBHAADE Penned This Instant Bestseller Which Was Also Her Serious Foray Into Turning An Author Long After She Had Well Established Her Writing Credentials As a Film Journalist Way Back In 1972 When She Brought Alive Stardust As It's Founding Editor & Virtually Changed The Face Of Film Journalism In India!!
The Very Fact That SHOBHAA DE Penned Socialite Evenings in 1989 & Till 2011 It Was Still Being Reprinted In Various Editions Across The 🌍 Speaks Volumes For The Grip That SHOBHAA DE Has On Her Readers...And For Those Who May Wonder That #SocialiteEvenings Was Merely A Fluke Or A Flash In The Pan...Just Dismiss The Thought Because From Socialite Evenings Her First Undisputed Worldwide Bestseller right across 2015 She Has Produced 17 More Novels Thus Making Her 'India's Superstar Novelist' As Socialite Evenings Happens To Be The First Book Penned By SHOBHAA DE After Having Been The Founding Editor Of Stardust & Her Successfully Emerging As A Globally Acclaimed Syndicated Columnist This Book & Her Writing Has Heavy Shades Of A Never Ending Stardust Annual Or Better Still A Neeta's Natter Column That Virtually Keeps You Enthralled & Gripped By It's Powerful Narrative. So if You Have Grown Up Alongside The Original Stardust Back In The Early '70's When SHOBHA (Minus The Extra 'A' Then KILACHAND) was it's Maiden Editor & You Flipped For Her Uniquely Original Style Of Film Journalism Then Indeed Socialite Evenings Would Truly Be Unputdownable...Right From Chapter 1 To The Epilogue...All 381 Pages Of It!!
November 7, 2013
Shobha De's signature writing style quietly reflects and simmers boldly in this novel.
Modern living story of a women oscillating in present to past and running down emotional escapades. I picked it up during my one of the work-break period and spent some days to get over entirely.
All i can say plot is missing edges and spikes that usually keep hitting and glued around, if you have a habit of reading fast-paced novels. Probably author's style of holding story pace is slow and unorganizely. Weaves a frame of relationship push-pull of woes, fights between husband-wife, 'dutiful' daily routines
Its not a linear story with tight editing, but a kind of feminine, warm yet bold & expressive that usually author is known for to write. Good detailing of women's thought reflections to life, and hence female mass should like it.
I haven't again taken it on hand after finishing once ^^
Modern living story of a women oscillating in present to past and running down emotional escapades. I picked it up during my one of the work-break period and spent some days to get over entirely.
All i can say plot is missing edges and spikes that usually keep hitting and glued around, if you have a habit of reading fast-paced novels. Probably author's style of holding story pace is slow and unorganizely. Weaves a frame of relationship push-pull of woes, fights between husband-wife, 'dutiful' daily routines
Its not a linear story with tight editing, but a kind of feminine, warm yet bold & expressive that usually author is known for to write. Good detailing of women's thought reflections to life, and hence female mass should like it.
I haven't again taken it on hand after finishing once ^^
July 4, 2016
This book is superficial,could delve much deeper into issues of society,relations.It fails miserably.De is satisfied with mere contrast between various echelons of society in a naive way.Relations between humans is a VAST subject, does not end at surface level.No doubt, author has tried to give a glimpse of what goes on in media world and ad world, but she could have gone to more depths, and not remained "awestruck"by the glares of these worlds.It is not clear what she wants to say or defend?Is she defending the ad world,media or the participants thereof?She should not have taken sides in a clumsy way. She is not clear about the aim of the novel.It is not entertainment ,in any case.
.Most readers will find this as a novel without an appropriate end , incoclusive.Shows confused mind of the author.
.Most readers will find this as a novel without an appropriate end , incoclusive.Shows confused mind of the author.
March 7, 2010
Urrrm. Whilst I love all things Hindustani, I felt like most of this book was centered around a woman's sexuality, or rather a rich woman and her friends sex lives and the unhappiness they experienced surrounding their marriages and extra marital affairs. The main character annoyed me -alot- just her general apathy to life, and I found the story at times took forever to reach certain points in the character's life etc. I remember writing on facebook that all this was so far was "sex, sex, sex" and as I write this now, I can't think of anything else.
If Shobhaa De did write this heavily influenced as a reflection of the sordid parts of the Bollywood lifestyle, then for that it is salient and totally indulgent, but still, for the most it wasn't.
If Shobhaa De did write this heavily influenced as a reflection of the sordid parts of the Bollywood lifestyle, then for that it is salient and totally indulgent, but still, for the most it wasn't.
September 10, 2010
I still am not quite sure what I think of this book.
It's about a woman coming of age and maturing in Mumbai/Bombay, India. She does not know what she wants of life - whether career or personal related. She marries for reasons she does not seem to know. She divorces. She comes to terms with her family.
There are aspects of her life - about muddling through and ending up where one should be that ring true.
It's about a woman coming of age and maturing in Mumbai/Bombay, India. She does not know what she wants of life - whether career or personal related. She marries for reasons she does not seem to know. She divorces. She comes to terms with her family.
There are aspects of her life - about muddling through and ending up where one should be that ring true.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 27, 2015
Having read De's articles earlier, I was looking forward to this book. So one can only imagine my disappointment when my experience turned out to be quite anti-climatic.
The setting of her story did call for some sleaze, but the author turned the trashiness aspect to turbo mode. I only read till the end because poor me desperately clung on to the expectation that there would be something good ahead. Alas!
The setting of her story did call for some sleaze, but the author turned the trashiness aspect to turbo mode. I only read till the end because poor me desperately clung on to the expectation that there would be something good ahead. Alas!
January 7, 2010
I enjoyed it for what it is - fiction/fantasy. Not a reflection of the times or mores. No doubt there are some people in this world with lots of money and nothing to do who manage to have interesting lives, but the write hasn't chosen to write about them.. No idea how she got published in Penguin, nor why this book was so popular.
December 9, 2010
When I found out this was published over 20 years ago I found it hard to believe. The India and characters described are very different from the India I am familiar with. Also the author uses a lot of language/expressions/vocabulary that may be unfamiliar to some of her readers and which she does not translate/explain.
February 14, 2014
Editing my review because despite my overall regard of the book, the day after finishing it, when I'd already moved on to the next book, I caught myself feeling regret that I was not returning back to these characters in the evening and I actually missed them. :)
October 27, 2011
previously i had read 'Snapshots' and 'Starry Nights' by De, hence i did expect something... however unlike other two, 'Socialite Evenings' did engage me just much.. it was like i was reading about Madhur Bhandarkar's 'Page 3' from the most boring POV!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 4, 2013
I wanted to try reading a Shobha de book.. And When I saw this book bargain priced at B&N I picked it up... Bad move... I got through 1/4 of the book hoping that it would get better.. But was totally disappointed. I had to stop... Very poorly written.
November 25, 2013
I have never read a Shobhaa De book . So just thought of trying it out . I was neither able to appreciate the writing nor the character or the story . I simply lack the substance i look out for when i read a book.
October 11, 2009
vele lo hain life mein kuch larna to hai nahi.........wile it away na dbe complecent in the appreciation of ithr s who wile it away like you...
July 30, 2010
I needed a light fun read and since I loved "Bollywood Nights" I thought this would be fun. Ehhh, I couldn't get past page 68.
June 11, 2011
Shoba de shaking bollywood with this. Very entertaining read
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews