REVIEW OF LITERATURE So far a lot of work is done on various aspects of Shobhaa De’s career and her writings. Reviews on her various books and novels are quoted below to help further into the study of the works of Shobhaa De. Shobhaa De is "India's first successful pulp novelist", a bestselling author who never quite caught on outside India. Shobhaa De, perhaps better known here as the Maharani of Muck or the Princess of Porn, is India's most commercially successful English-language author. It's a crazy claim for a 56-year- old middle-class Indian woman--one who describes herself as a "traditional" mother to six children--to be able to make. But sex sells, even in one of the world's most socially conservative countries. Bucking all convention, for years De has dared to write lusty, shocking sex scenes, and from a female point of view. In a country where women rarely bare more than two inches of leg and hardly ever file for divorce, she writes about women who, like herself, flee marriages because they are bored. De is author of more than a dozen titles, all of which start with the letter "s" ( Sultry Days , Starry Nights , Strange Obsession --you get the point) and all of which depict a level of privilege that most of India's more than 1 billion impoverished masses cannot even imagine. Even De's harshest critics have to admit that she remains a compelling icon for women in today's fast-globalizing India. "Writing about somebody dropping a sari doesn't mean you're striking big notes for women," says film critic Shubra Gupta. "But she is India's first and only glamorous female brand name, and that means something." Miranda Kennedy is a journalist based in New Delhi. She reports frequently for NPR. ‘CONTEMPORARY REALITY AND REVOLUTION OF MODERN WOMAN IN SECOND THOUGHTS BY SHOBHAA DE.' Dr. Vyawzzahare Swapna Chandrakant. Shobhaa De, the novelist fought spiritedly against all the traditional beliefs and moral values denouncing them as out of has gradually turned into an explicit annoyance and finally took the shape of an open rebellion since the ancient age, Women have written novels in plenty but their novels attempted pictures of life as it is seen through the eyes of men. But now Shobhaa De breaks this world of English fiction by shifting from man's angle to woman's angle and emphasis from the external to the internal world. Research Paper- The Androgynous World of New Women in Shobhaa De's Fiction by Dr.Ashish Gupta. Shobhaa De as a writer is gifted with extraordinary ability to discuss very sensitive aspects of human life tactfully .The way she narrates each and every aspects of human relationship in general and man-woman relationship in particular is really wonderful. The orthodox people in India criticize her for her open discussion of sexual matters .But her fiction has got tremendous response not only from several European countries but all over read and enjoy her fiction. It is no less an achievement. In fact as a writer she differs considerably from other Indian women – novelists writing in English. She is a writer who believes in very frank narration of incidents and absolute open-heartedness. We don’t find anything reserved in her fiction from narrative point of view. She is the last person to care for what orthodox readers say about the subject-matter of her fiction. As a creative writer, she is becoming immensely popular day by day. Most of the readers enjoy her extraordinary narrative technique as well as her subject matter. Shobhaa De’s SELECTIVE MEMORY: STORIES FROM MY LIFE: Indian Woman in New Avatar “God must be a mother…….” Above sentence inscribed by Shobhaa De in her book ‘Speed Post’ is a keynote to her personality. Here’s a writer who talks about woman without waving a feminist flag. Her life story is a document of a woman writer for whom mother-hood and family-life is a celebration. She enjoys being a mother of six and her family is her greatest possession. She is the first modern mother who has a great faith in the new and candid generation. She frankly confesses that she has learnt a lot from this new generation to which her kids belong to. Surely, she is not a person whose chief interest is personal advancement in her profession. Her high voltage Career happened in unexpected ways. She claims: “I was not a careerist. So many years later; I still don’t consider myself one.” Love-Hate Relationship In Shobhaa De's Sisters Research Paper—English Department of English, Shivjagruti Senior College, Nalegaon, Latur Head, Department of English, Mahatma Basweshwar College, Latur Feb, 2010 Prof. Dattatraya Hudge, Prof. (Dr.) Rajkumar M. Lakhadive. Sisters is considered as an explosive novel of Shobhaa De. It is known for its “Pacy narrative quality” and for its “ostensibly intimate view of glitzy side” [Indian Review of ss Book, p. 26.] of Bombay life. The novel deals with the psychic conflict in its liberated woman protagonist who is caught between a personal self and a societal self. The novel deals with the theme of women’s struggle for identity in the male-dominated society. Apart from this, the novel records the suffering of a woman in the patriarchal set up. In this set up, she is treated as an object. Shobhaa De’s Superstar India: A Sailing in Rough Waters by Dr. Kalpana Rajput. In her latest novel Superstar India: From Incredible to Unstoppable , Shobhaa De, the much controversial novelist also gives readers an opportunity to see both the dark and glittering aspects of ‘Superstar India’. Starry Nights was Shobhaa De's second novel. It is said that the novels' characters, Aasha Rani and her lover Akshay, were based on the real life love-affairs of Amitabh Bachchan with Rekha Ganesan and Dharmendra Singh Deol with Hema Malini. It was a best seller in India and cemented its author’s reputation as being a provocative and daring author. Strange Obsession by Shobhaa De: Strange Obsession is the story of the gorgeous young super-model Amrita Aggarwal. Within months of her arrival in Bombay, she is the envy of its beautiful people. Then, one day, she attracts the attentions of a mysterious woman called Minx. As the months pass and the demands of her unwelcome suitor grow, Amrita’s life turns nightmarish ... An unforgettable novel of sexual obsession and its calamitous consequences. Freedom from Social Bondage in Shobhaa De’s Sisters and Strange Obsession by Rashmi Gupta: In this masculine universe, a woman recognizes herself unassertive and object in Toto. Since long she always poses a question to herself as to when she would be an autonomous and self sufficient woman. Vol - I, ISSUE - VI [July 2011]: English Author: Chintan Ambalal Mahida [Dr. Jivraj Mehta Institute of Technology, Mogar] Article: The Corrupt Urban Culture in Shobhaa De’s Sisters Shobhaa De’s Sister is a story of corrupt urban culture where human relationship has lost its all values. At the same time, it is a tale about emotional bond between two sisters, Mallika and Alisha. The story revolves around the corrupt urban world of business in Bombay. Book: Spouse-The truth about marriage Spouse’ is De’s anecdote on marriage. Spiced up with various incidents from De’s conjugal life, this book gives us the author’s point of view on the institution of marriage, on the ideal code of conduct for both spouses in their day-to-day dealings, on a couple’s moral obligations to each other, and much more. The Novels of Shobhaa De a Feminist Study by Shivika Verma Shobhaa De, a super model, celebrity journalist and the bestselling author, stands as a pioneer in the field of popular fiction and ranks among the first to explore the world of the urban woman in India. Subjectivity, Class and Feminism in Shobhaa De’s Sultry Days by Anita Myle in Indian English Fiction New perspectives published by Sarup and sons ISBN 81-7625-255-7 Sultry Days is one of Shobhaa De’s most striking attempts propagating the idea that female subjectivity is not just a slavish succumbing to male dominance but every woman is a staunch feminist in her heart resisting male injustices. Surviving Men by Shobhaa De Sensible spouses should not even attempt to compete with their men’s mamas. It’s a total waste of time and counter-productive, too. Befriending the enemy isn’t always the answer, but as strategies go, it beats battling with the old bird. Speedpost by Shobhaa De Speedpost is a collection of letters written by De to her 6 children, at various stages of their lives. The subjects of these letters are varied –chastising them for late-night telephone calls, Internet addiction, excessive spending, the fast fading significance of age-old traditions, and about several other memorable big and little occasions in their lives. Superstar India by Shobhaa De published in Aug. 2008 by Penguin Shobhaa De’s notion of linking the country’s prosperity with the spending patterns of a miniscule population is equally that of naive exuberance. De seems to be taking a view on everything from the prism of her own affluent lifestyle and that of her inner circle of friends and acquaintances – trips abroad, living in posh star hotels, visiting spas, shopping in Milan and Paris. Shobhaa at Sixty: Secrets of getting it Right at any Age by Shobhaa De Publisher: Hay House India (09/15/2010) The book speeds through a range of preoccupations that affect the ageing, and those who care for them: From health to personal grooming to travel tips to financial advice to coping with the loss of a partner.