Mindy Kaling's Book Studio Releases LA Author's Second Novel, Centered in Wine Country

On Monday, April 1st FRIENDS IN NAPA —the second novel by Sheila Yasmin Marikar—is being released for your vinous and dramatic reading pleasure. The novel is being published by Mindy Kaling's Mindy's Book Studio imprint, which Kaling founded in order to celebrate emerging and diverse voices. The story addresses how competition amongst friends, ambition, and wealth

Click here to purchase FRIENDS IN NAPA via Amazon

Learn more about the plot of FRIENDS IN NAPA:

Raj and Rachel Ranjani have invited their closest friends from college for a celebratory weekend in Napa Valley. On the agenda: three nights in the couple’s opulent vineyard mansion, a lavish dinner at Napa’s hottest new restaurant, exclusive tastings, and the grand opening of the Ranjanis’ ultra-high-end winery. It’s a reunion of six friends who haven’t seen each other in years.

"Just get yourselves here, everything else is on us." What could go wrong?

To start, there’s the less-than-warm welcome: a brick flung through a window and palpable tension between the hosts. But no worries—all Raj has to do is pop a few bottles of vintage Dom, and the college vibes come rushing back. So do old resentments, animosities, and unrequited crushes. Soon enough, the illusion of friendship shatters like a gossamer wineglass, and one of the guests ends up dead. Everyone has their motivations. Everyone has something to hide.

White Lotus fans in particular will be elated to discover this juicy, scandalous riff on a group of friends behaving badly while on vacation. And while satiric, the novel is also an unflinchingly honest portrayal of how money, power and privilege won’t fix what’s broken inside these characters.

Sheila Yasmin Marikar is the author of two novels, The Goddess Effect and FRIENDS IN NAPA .She’s also an accomplished journalist whose work has been published in the New Yorker , New York Times , The Economist, Fortune, Bloomberg Businessweek, Vogue , and many other publications. Her New York Times Magazine profile of the chef Gaggan Anand was selected for the 2021 edition of Best American Food Writing. Sheila began her career at ABC News.

“ Smart and wildly entertaining...like drinking a glass of wine with an endlessly witty, scandalous friend .” -Mindy Kaling

Click here to purchase FRIENDS IN NAPA via Amazon