Night in Bombay

''Night in Bombay'' is a captivating 1940 bestselling novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning American author Louis Bromfield. Set against the vibrant, shimmering backdrop of 1930s colonial India, the book explores a complex web of romance, wealth, and societal transformation.

The story follows three expatriate Americans whose destinies collide by chance at the luxurious Taj Mahal Hotel. Bill Wainright is a wealthy, carefree American businessman. Carol Halma is a glamorous former beauty queen and Bill's ex-wife. Buck Merrill is Bill's ailing friend who has dedicated his life to philanthropy.

A dramatic love triangle develops as Carol and Buck fall passionately in love, while Bill finds himself drawn back to his former wife. Their lives intersect with wealthy Indian royals, socialites, and colonial officials, pulling them into a vortex of passion, greed, and gambling.

Bromfield juxtaposes the extreme wealth and nightly splendor of India's elite with the grit, poverty, and rising political nationalist tensions of the era. Often described as a subcontinental version of Grand Hotel, it serves as both pure romantic entertainment and a sharp observation of a society on the verge of massive historical change.