Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee

At home, Meera Syal's women "walk in small steps, talk in sweet tones, pour dainty cupfuls, and refill plates in the shake of a dupatta," but at work, they "kick ass across courtrooms and computer screens." In a book somewhere between Waiting to Exhale and Bridget Jones's Diary, Syal has created an indelible portrait of a close-knit group of Indian women living in London. Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee is the story of Chila, a nice Punjabi girl married to the urbane Deepak, and her two childhood confidants: Sunita, the former activist law student, now an overweight, depressed housewife and mother; and the chic, beautiful Tania, who has rejected marriage in favor of a high-powered career in television and life in a trendy apartment with her English boyfriend. This hilariously scathing, no-holds-barred novel from the award-winning author of Anita and Me describes what happens when one of them makes a documentary, starring the other two, about contemporary urban Indian life.