Shobha De (née Rajadhyaksha, formerly Kilachand; born 7 January 1948) is an Indian novelist and columnist. She is best known for her depiction of socialites and sex in her works of fiction, for which she has been referred to as the "Jackie Collins of India."
Early life and education
Shobhaa De was born on 7 January 1948 in the Satara district of Maharashtra and was brought up in Bombay (now Mumbai), in a Marathi family. Her father was a district court judge, and her mother was a homemaker. She studied at the Queen Mary School, Mumbai. She then graduated in Psychology from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai.
Career
At age 17, she began her career as a model, At age 20, she began her career as a journalist, writing "agony aunt" advice columns and features for society magazines.
In the 1980s, she contributed to the Sunday magazine section of The Times of India. She has since been a regular columnist for several newspapers. In 1992, Mark Fineman of the Los Angeles Times described her as "India's hottest-selling English-language novelist," and how her second novel, Starry Nights (1991), had "a drawing of a nude woman on the front cover," and according to De, "they said it was the first time they’d broken through the ‘F’ barrier, the first time they’d run the F-word without asterisks."
De has also participated in several literary festivals, including the Bangalore Literature Festival,
Personal life
De has been married twice, and is a mother of six children with six grandchildren.
After graduation, Shobha married Sudhir Vrajlal Kilachand of the Kilachand Marwari business family, with whom she has a son and a daughter.
Books
- Srilaaji – Diary of a Marwari Matriarch, Simon & Schuster (2020)
- Small Betrayals − Hay House India, New Delhi, 2014
- Shobhaa: Never a Dull De − Hay House India, New Delhi, 2013
- Shethji −2012
- Speedpost – Penguin, New Delhi. 1999.