Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee (Hardcover)

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.