Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows

by Balli Kaur Jaswal

Overview

Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club Pick

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062645111
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	03/06/2018
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	50,483
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Balli Kaur Jaswal is the author of five novels, including Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows which was a Reese Witherspoon's Book Club pick in 2018. Born in Singapore and raised in Japan, Russia and the Philippines, Jaswal studied creative writing at Hollins University in Virginia and worked as an English teacher in Australia and Turkey. She has held fellowships at the University of East Anglia and Nanyang Technological University, where she also completed her PhD in South Asian diaspora writing. Jaswal's non-fiction has appeared in the New York Times, Harper's Bazaar India, Refinery29 and Salon.com, among other publications. 

Editorial Reviews

Jaswal tackles serious themes (arranged vs forced marriage, traditional vs modern culture) with a light and funny touvh. A page-turner your commute will thank you for.” — Glamour Magazine

“By turns erotic, romantic, and mysterious, this novel of women defying patriarchial strictures enchants.” — Kirkus Reviews

“A page-turner your commute will thank you for. Tackles serious themes with a light and funny touch.” — Glamour (UK)

“Warm and hilariously funny.” — Good Housekeeping (UK)

“Heady stuff ... a funny and moving tale of desire and its discontents.” — The Economist

“Charming ... This is a sparkling read.” — Publishers Weekly

“I loved this novel—it’s so big-hearted and earthy and funny. Best of all, it turns many preconceptions upside down, and opens up a world that so many of us have only glimpsed. A rattlingly good story.” — Deborah Moggach, author of THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL

From the Publisher

I loved this novel—it’s so big-hearted and earthy and funny. Best of all, it turns many preconceptions upside down, and opens up a world that so many of us have only glimpsed. A rattlingly good story.

Deborah Moggach

Heady stuff ... a funny and moving tale of desire and its discontents.

The Economist

Warm and hilariously funny.

Good Housekeeping (UK)

A page-turner your commute will thank you for. Tackles serious themes with a light and funny touch.

Glamour (UK)

Jaswal tackles serious themes (arranged vs forced marriage, traditional vs modern culture) with a light and funny touvh. A page-turner your commute will thank you for.

Glamour Magazine

04/10/2017
When Nikki, a 22-year-old modern Punjabi woman, decides to teach a writing workshop for Punjabi widows two days a week in London’s Southall area, she goes in with the idea that she will walk the widows through how to write stories and then compile the stories into an anthology at the end of the class. Unfortunately, the widows barely know how to write their own names. But something about the women makes Nikki want to try, and when the class discover a book of erotica meant as a gag gift for Nikki’s sister, Mindi, all bets are off, and a sensation is born. Jaswal’s charming debut features an engaging protagonist who longs to break free from her more traditional mother’s expectations and who is still smarting from her father’s death, but it’s the portrayal of the women in Nikki’s class that is the highlight: these women are considered invisible, but through their writing they can be seen and their desires and dreams can be acknowledged. It’s a precious gift to give, and one Nikki comes to take very seriously. Additionally, the mystery of a young girl’s death offers an interesting twist at the end. This is a sparkling read, bolstered by a few of the women’s stories sprinkled in throughout. (June)

Publishers Weekly

Warm and hilariously funny.

Good Housekeeping(UK)

02/01/2017
Singapore-born, worldwide-raised Jaswal, named a Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelist, crosses more borders with the story of a sophisticated young London-based Punjabi named Nikki. When she agrees to teach a creative writing course at a community center, Nikki has a hard time reaching the dignified Sikh widows who show up until one of them discovers an anthology of risqué works. With a 75,000-copy first printing; film rights optioned.

Library Journal

2017-03-21
Appalled that her sister, Mindi, would even consider an arranged marriage, Nikki Grewal reluctantly pins Mindi's dating profile to their Sikh temple's marriage board. But Nikki may be the sister whose life changes.Nikki has pretty much disgraced herself and her family—British, Punjabi, Sikh—several times over: in addition to dropping out of law school, she's moved out of the family home and into her own flat above O'Reilly's pub, where she tends bar. She's also taken several lovers, none of whom she ever intended to marry. So Mindi's desire for a traditional arranged marriage bewilders Nikki, particularly since Mindi has a successful career as a nurse and doesn't need anyone else to support her. While posting the profile, though, Nikki notices an advertisement for a writing instructor. Although disinclined to hire a young, modern woman, Kulwinder Kaur, Community Development Director of the Sikh Community Association, has had no other applicants. So Nikki begins teaching a group of Punjabi widows, who quickly hijack her lesson plans. Instead of teaching a creative writing course, or even an introductory English literacy course, Nikki finds herself facilitating an erotic storytelling workshop. The widows delight in telling titillating tales of illicit sexual encounters despite the danger of discovery by the Brothers, the self-appointed morality police. As Nikki deepens her relationships with the widows—and finds a new boyfriend along the way—she learns of the strange death of Kulwinder's daughter, Maya, who may have been accused of dishonorable behavior. But trying to discover what happened to Maya may land Nikki herself in trouble. With a keen ear for dialogue and humor, Jaswal (Sugarbread, 2016, etc.) deftly entwines these women's lives, creating a world in which women of multiple generations find common ground in the erotic fantasies that reveal both lived experiences and wistful dreams. By turns erotic, romantic, and mysterious, this tale of women defying patriarchal strictures enchants.

Kirkus Reviews