Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows: A Novel [B1701]

2018 PB with minor wear. A lively, sexy, and thought-provoking East-meets-West story about community, friendship, and women's lives at all ages-a spicy and alluring mix of Together Tea and Calendar Girls. Every woman has a secret life . . . Nikki lives in cosmopolitan West London, where she tends bar at the local pub. The daughter of Indian immigrants, she's spent most of her twenty-odd years distancing herself from the traditional Sikh community of her childhood, preferring a more independent (that is, Western) life. When her father's death leaves the family financially strapped, Nikki, a law school dropout, impulsively takes a job teaching a "creative writing" course at the community center in the beating heart of London's close-knit Punjabi community. Because of a miscommunication, the proper Sikh widows who show up are expecting to learn basic English literacy, not the art of short-story writing. When one of the widows finds a book of sexy stories in English and shares it with the class, Nikki realizes that beneath their white dupattas, her students have a wealth of fantasies and memories. Eager to liberate these modest women, she teaches them how to express their untold stories, unleashing creativity of the most unexpected-and exciting-kind. As more women are drawn to the class, Nikki warns her students to keep their work secret from the Brotherhood, a group of highly conservative young men who have appointed themselves the community's "moral police." But when the widows' gossip offers shocking insights into the death of a young wife-a modern woman like Nikki-and some of the class erotica is shared among friends, it sparks a scandal that threatens them all.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "Unexpectedly fun and entertaining read. A modern Indian woman finding her way in the world and find acceptance among traditional family members and community members."; "This book was a pleasantly unexpected gem. I loved learning about a different culture than I haven't read much about in books before and the experience of widows, women, and immigrants. I found parts of the story to make me laugh out loud several times which is rare for me and I found this to be a marvelous not too dark/heavy read on sensitive topics of grief, sexism, classism, and immigration. Albeit, predictable, it was a good read and very memorable. I thoroughly enjoyed it"; "Excellent, thought-provoking book!"; "This one is surprising. So spicy, but not silly. It touches serious issues in the culture of the Punjabj diaspora in London but is really hopeful and fun. "