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.