
March '18 Pick
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows
Balli Kaur Jaswal
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...
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows
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 Our Book Lover-In-Chief
A book that touched my heart and kept me guessing… and yes, it’s spicy!
This month’s book has something for everyone! It’s a mystery, a romance, a family drama… and yes, it’s spicy! This is a story about liberating women at every age, and empowering them to express their hopes, their dreams and what makes them feel good. Most of all, it’s about how women across all generations can come together to change their community. Get ready, book club, this month is going to be a journey!


FROM THE AUTHOR
Balli Kaur Jaswal
Balli Kaur Jaswal is a Singaporean novelist, with family roots in Punjab. She is the author of Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows and three other novels.
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