f you haven’t read the Butterfly books, it will help to know that Butterfly, a self-proclaimed khandani Lahori, loves to party, gossip and shop. She is married to a foreign graduate entitled to massive lands and real estate, who is friends with the goras he studied with. However, Moni Mohsin’s latest offering, Between You, Me and the Four Walls, has drawn an entirely different tangent combining satire, humour and socio-political critique, all dominated by the Pakistani elite’s problems.

Like The Diary of Anne Frank, the novel has the structure of diary entries speaking to the reader. Spanning over eight years, beginning from January 2014 and ending in December 2021, Mohsin explores major epochal events, including the Covid-19 pandemic, which forms an integral part of the book alongside the portrayal of the populist leader, Imran Khan, who currently dominates the Pakistani political theatre. However, Butterfly is not too fond of him, unlike The Impeccable Integrity of Ruby R, in which Butterfly is smitten with Saif Haq, a character loosely based on Imran Khan.

The glocalisation of linguistics that Salman Rushdie made famous in South Asian literary fiction takes a rebirth of sorts when we come across phrases like chalaowing chukkers.

“You know my friend Kamila Shamsie? Bhai, she’s from Karachi only. Writes story books. Good bagground (read: background), parhi likhi, English-medium type, so basically same to same as me.”

What sets this book apart is the style in which Butterfly trolls the likes of herself. Making sarcastic comments about the entitled, privileged class as an insider is the irony. Butterfly is brutally indifferent and non-committal, keeping the powers that be a phone call away in case she might need them for a zaruri kaam.

Like many affluent Pakistanis who are at a loss about where to spend their money, Butterfly loves art – the indulgence of the prosperous. While it may not tickle her fancy, she does it anyway, as it is the practice of the prominent rich people that she is friends with. While she might think Rashid Rana is overrated, she also knows that artists are a big deal in the internal fabric of art because “Indian buyers… are buying dharha dharh”, a thing that upsets her to no end due to the rising prices.

As a Pakistani citizen, I know for a fact that Butterfly is not merely some character in a book. We come across such superficial people daily.

Mohsin has done a commendable job of portraying how the high-brow raise their place in the social structure through friends, associates and acquaintances. Butterfly makes sure everybody knows that she is the karta dharta of the superstar ecosystem of art – Rashid Rana, Imran Qureshi, Bani Abidi, Mohammed Ali Talpur, Huma Mulji, Ayesha Khalid, Ali Kazim – who sell their work in London at exorbitant prices.

Although the author spends most of her time in London penning down relatable novels, she has grown up in Lahore. Her writings depict a stark difference between the people with old money and the nouveau riche. Mohsin stands out with her close-to-reality storytelling style and characters that, despite being infuriating, are relevant and rooted in our society. The carefully curated gossip is a picture of the people, policies and lifestyles of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.

However, Mohsin does not have the grim determination to slash everyone with the same sword. The book also has some sane characters who can think analytically, try to keep a clear conscience and do good. Butterfly just wishes Pakistan could quickly turn into Sweden, rich and clean, without having to so much as lift a finger. Her notion of paradise translates into Dubai – saaf suthra and peaceful without trees “so there are no leaves to sweep and no birds to sit in them and do potty on your car.” She opines that Meghan Markle “talks too much” about “bore things” and comes across as a “lectury type” rather than a princess who “should just smile and nod”.

As a Pakistani, I know for a fact that Butterfly is not merely some character in a book. We come across such superficial people daily. Mohsin has mentioned that social media will be Butterfly’s next obsession. The queen of malapropisms will return with what has almost become an obsession with us. I can’t wait for more chatty outpourings and tummy-tickling humour.

Between You, Me and the Four Walls

The Social Butterfly Bulletin

Author: Moni Mohsin

Publisher: Penguin, India

Pages: 232

The reviewer is a freelance journalist based in Karachi