When I started reading this book, I really didn't know what to expect from it. The name of the book was simply unbelievable. The more I read it, the more it shocked me, and I know for sure, that after reading this book, I will never look the same at South Asian aunties and the community. The description of the book is quite accurate. British born Punjabi Nikki gets a job in gurdwara in Southall, London, to teach reading and writing to Punjabi widows, who are mostly from villages. She quickly notices that these widows are not interested in learning how to write, instead, they are very keen to share their erotic fantasies with other women. While teaching the widows, Nikki learns, that Southall, and the community itself are hiding many dirty secrets of its own.
I found the characters of this book very amusing, and at the same time very close to my heart. I loved how author put two opposites in the book; Nikki, who wants to live her life and make her own choices, and her sister Mindi-who still wants things done the traditional way. All the widows, who participated in this book, were really interesting and diverse personalities. They all had a story to tell, not only erotic one, but the one of their life as well. I do know quite a lot of South Asian people, and the way author described them in the book is very accurate. I am not including their fantasies, but the part of how they present themselves to society, is quite accurate. Respect of the family is the main value in Asian society, and all people try to maintain that. That’s why Nikki is kind of rebel against traditional values, which is sometimes quite shameful in the eye of the community.
Everything in this book sounds very real and believable: characters, plot and the way author described places used in this book, it’s unbelievably accurate. I liked that author included more than one character in this book, and told the story from Nikki’s and her employer’s Kulvinder’s perspective. Kulvinder has huge influence in the book, with the tragic story of her daughter Maya, who died very young. Through the views of Nikki and Kulvinder, the story of the book unfolds very nicely, and keeps the suspense going.

The plot of the book is very original; nevertheless, it tells couple of different stories at the same time. Most of the action in this book happens in Southall, London. As the author said in the book, she lived in Southall, while she was studying at university. That explains why she wrote about this place with such detail. She described every corner and street with great accuracy, and beautifully presented the spirit of that place. How do I know? I visited that place many times, that’s why the similarity shocked me. This book tells not only the story of widow’s fantasies, but also involves murders, and many dark secrets of the society itself, and that really made the book amusing, twisty and hard to put down. The more Nikki gets involved with the widows, the more this story turns and thickens. Author discussed a lot of important topics in this book, such as: honour killings; family relations between parents and children, and what honour and respect of the family means in Asian society; immigration and adjustment problems; and many more. Author showed really nicely, that women, even after marriage remain women, and that after washing dishes, cooking and cleaning houses, they have their wishes and desires, which are not always fulfilled. Let me tell you one thing, those erotic stories they tell are really kinky, and has wide variety of action going on, so it is definitely not for young people to read.

So, as I mentioned before and as it is obvious from the name of the book, it contains so foul language but at the same time is very comic and funny to read. This book is quite detailed, but it doesn’t make it boring, it helps to understand the situations better. I really liked, that the chapters were divided, so it was easier and more fun to read it. The ending of the book is nice and ended the book really well, by putting all characters at peace. To conclude, I really enjoyed this layered, funny and very beautifully written book and I do recommend reading it to everyone, who would like to have an insight of South Asian community, and get involved with those great topics which author brought up in this book.

An awe inspiring written piece of work. This covers humour galore, eroticism, the Punjabi/Sikh community way of life, romance and murder – what more could a book require to be a great book. It is well structured and the author has taken time to ensure that all her thoughts flow naturally. I spent a lot of time giggling and reading some bits to my husband. Highly recommended to anyone who wants a laugh out loud story. The main characters and all their issues were alive to the reader and were all demonstrating such different aspects of general life in the community. I considered Nikki to be an awakening for all the widows and loved what evolved. This book was well written and all the issues involving the full understanding of any of the myriad of situations were well spaced and left the reader wondering exactly what had happened previously as well as where it would all end up. As a book I loved it.

I was on the lookout for immigrant literature that is entertaining yet enlightening at the same time and ‘Erotic stories for Punjabi Widows’ came along. Now, before you snigger, the title of the book maybe considered a bit bold but the themes that it addresses are very real and sometimes quite hard hitting.

Full review on my blog Desi Lekh, Please follow link below.

An entertaining read providing a sensitive insight into the lives of Sikh families living in Britain. This story helps one to realise that women throughout the world have similar feelings and desires, no matter what their nationality, religion or race.

The primary character in this book is Nikki, a young and independent woman who has dropped out of law school, is working in bar and is completely at odds with the traditional Punjabi values of her family. Nikki takes on an evening job teaching the female Punjabi community of Southall, London how to read and write English. This job soon evolves from simple English lessons into the spicy, erotic story telling of the lonely widows. The stories are written out and passed around between friends in the community. As word spreads about the class, the group grows and includes presently married and unmarried women join them.

There is a murder, mystery aspect to the plot which develops throughout the storytelling sessions providing an unexpected finale.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a digital review copy.

Nikki is part of the Enfield Punjabi community but she has rebelled. Dropping out of her law degree and working part-time in a pub, she cannot understand her sister's desire for an arranged marriage. However when she travels to the Gurdwara in Southall she stumbles across a role teaching a storytelling class for woman who attend temple. Unfortunately the woman cannot write and so her class is supposed to be adult literacy, but the woman show an interest in developing a particular kind of story - erotic fantasy - and through this their lives become more liberated.

There are so many aspects of this book that are laudable. I really liked the setting in Southall and the ideas about providing a voice to woman who are defined by convention, even is a found the 'stories' risible. Unfortunately the book tries to be so much more, a murder mystery, a polemic on racism, a sociological study and a comparative romance - this is where it falls down. There is simply too much plot tied up in one book and none of the plots are done justice. This is a pity because as a book about cultural comparisons with a gentle hint of humour, it works incredibly well.

I loved this story. A great mix of traditional and modern Sikh women. The book presents both sides in such a great manner, it makes it easy to understand both sides. Loved the book!!!

Not too sure about this book. I enjoyed reading about Punjabi women and how they are (yes really) just like any other group of women but not sure exactly how the erotic stories fit in. I found them entertaining but I feel any group of women would want to have far more trust and guarantees of anonymity before sharing their stories, never mind these women with the temple "guards" keeping an eye on everyone. Overall I found it a pleasant read but not a great read.

I was sent a copy from the publishers in return for my independent honest review. The premise of this book sounded really interesting to me as I was excited to gain an insight into the lives of other cultures to my own.
Nikki, although of Punjabi origin, has a very 'westernised ' lifestyle, is well educated and considers herself as a ' modern feminist'. In some ways she resents having to take a part time teaching job to a group of ageing Punjabi widows. These woman have lived their lives in the shadows of the men around them, being dutiful,dependent and in my opinion subservient. They have a wealth of hidden stories to tell, many with erotic content as the title suggests. They now have a platform to freely express their sexuality,hopes and dreams behind closed doors for probably the first time in their lives.
I wasn't particularly drawn to Nikki's character, however for me she redeemed herself somewhat by becoming closer to the woman and helping keep their secrets safe despite what is happening in 'the outside world' Behind the scenes within the Community, there is a group of men who feel it is their duty to uphold tradition and moral high ground, who perhaps will stop at nothing to achieve this.
This book made me laugh. I really enjoyed the humour and friendship amongst the group. It did make me consider how I've lived as an equal, independent woman, whilst others are not so fortunate. I did find it difficult to get into the book as I felt somewhat overloaded with so different characters. This didn't flow particularly well for me. I would have liked the important issues raised on gender and cultural equality to have been looked at in more depth. Also the ending felt rushed for the sake of completeness. Overall an enjoyable read, but sorry for me didn't quite deliver what I was expecting

This is an OK read. It's a really unusual idea about a group of Sikh widows writing about their erotic fantasies. But somehow, i just didn't get the characters, and the book seemed to have to many themes. I don't know what it was, it is quite an enjoyable read, but there was something which just didn't gel with me

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows

I thought this story sounds like a lot of fun when I read the synopsis and I wasn't wrong!
West meets East and East meets West, this quirky, funny read will have you laughing out loud. With endearing characters and a beautifully written prose, you cannot fail to love this gem of a book. 5*

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher.

Funny, poignant, moving and naughty. This was such a good read. I don't want to spoil it by saying much, this was not what I expected and is all the better for that but expect to be surprised! There is always much more to peoples lives than others can imagine, this book is about Punjabi women living in Southall, London, several are widows, missing their husbands and intimacy, others long for love and are ready to accept an arranged marriage , while some look elsewhere. To get together as a writing group is a way of making friends, but then something much more happens and it's not about learning to write!

There is un undercurrent running through which is deeply disturbing, dark and something that happens in UK whether we admit it or not. Honour killing, and retribution, threats etc. but there is a twist here. It encouraged me to read in 3 days with my morning coffee each day until the end. I had to know more. I am happy with the ending, the story was told, stories were written and friendships made but it left me thinking much more than I expected to. Showing yet again we can learn so much from other cultures. about life, love and loss.


Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this and for making me smile and cry. often.

As a person who spends much of his days reading science fiction, crime and graphic novels, I've got a lot of time for someone who wants to stand up and defend a much-maligned genre. Here, Balli Kaur Jaswal makes the case for erotica as a liberating medium that allows (primarily) women to explore their agency and embrace their sexuality. The popular distaste for erotica – E. L. James's prose style aside –is founded on a deep-seated conservatism and sense of shame. That's particularly evident in the Sikh immigrant community Jaswal depicts here, but it's something I recognise in the wider community as well.

That insight afforded into the Sikh community of Southall really is fascinating. It's a community I admit I had no idea existed, but one of the great uses of literature is, of course, to afford us pseudo-experiences of lives and places we could never normally experience. And, to be a tad egocentric, you also end up learning a lot about your own community: what is innate to a place (in this case London) and what are assumptions particular to your lived experience.

If that's a bit heavy it's also worth pointing out <i>Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows<i> is a very funny book – not that it could be too furrow-browed with a title like that. The widows themselves, their bitching and joshing, are a delight. I can easily imagine this book having the same crossover appeal as <i>East is East</i> or <i>Bend It Like Beckham</i> – though the fact those are my reference points perhaps tell you more about me than it does the book.

There were a few things that jarred for me and prevented me giving the book a higher score: I sometimes found the dialogue a little incredible (does anybody who isn't hugely irritating ever refer to a former boyfriend or girlfriend with a straight face as "a lover"?); the idea of Nikki's desire for self-expression verging into solipsism, which I thought was the most interesting thing about the character, seems to disappear in the middle of the novel; and a particular key subplot does take a long time to come into focus. But those are relatively minor reservations: this isn't the sort of book I would normally pick up but I am immensely glad I did; I learnt something.

I mean, I'm not about to start reading <i>Razzle</i> on the train, but I might be ever so slightly less suspicious of those who do.

A novel set in the immigrant Sikh community of London. Nikki is a college dropout, primarily because she couldn't find a major she was passionate about, and is currently wasting her time by tending bar. She answers an ad looking for a creative writer teacher on impulse, figuring that hey, she's a reader! She could probably teach writing!

Instead she discovers that a) the class is supposed to be adult literacy, not memoir-writing, b) the students are primarily widows only semi-fluent in English who mostly just want to hang out and be entertained, and c) after accidentally discovering the existence of sexy romance novels, it turns out what the widows really want to do is tell erotic stories. Stories about themselves, stories about fantasies, fanfic about their favorite soap operas, fairy tales turned into sex epics, married couples, f/f couples, threesomes, kinky – all sorts of erotic stories. Nikki is at first mostly embarrassed to have a class full of people who look like her mom loudly debating the best vegetable to compare a penis to, but eventually comes around to seeing the stories as an important creative expression and her own role as teaching the women to stand up for themselves.

This part of the novel is all huge fun, if not particularly deep, and I had a great time reading it. Unfortunately there's a B-plot involving multiple murders, a vast cover-up conspiracy, a secret affair, disguised handwriting, and general melodrama. This part did not work so well for me. It just didn't seem to fit with the relatively small story of ten women rediscovering their passions – physical or not.

Ah, well. It wasn't enough to ruin the book for me, which remains a sweet, breezy read.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1928686886

I would like to thank the publishers of Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows for my ARC via Net-Galley.

The blurb fascinated me, although I did wonder about the erotic bit, which made me nervous in case it was more than I'd wish to read. What I found was a wonderful piece of suspense writing from inside the London Punjabi community--a community I knew hardly anything about.

The story mixes modern womanhood and the conflicts experienced by British-born Indians. I ached when one woman experienced the dilemma of which passport control channel to go through at the airport. The simple story of how one person's creative writing class is another's adult literacy class turns into something that mixes crime, murder, tradition, sexism, love, hate and betrayal, with erotic stories. What makes it so funny (apart from the beautiful drawn characters) is the use of vegetables to describe body parts; half the widows at the evening class don't know the English words for them, and the other half don't know the Punjabi words. I shall never look at an aubergine again without at least a smirk!

This is a wonderful book, especially for people wishing to understand the Sikh community better--at least the female side. I'm sure the Sikh (male) elders will disapprove of it, so get it while you can. Do you need some tips to spice up your thirty year marriage--well, that's an added bonus.

A funny, warm, compassionate mystery and suspense story--and also explicit. But I recommended it to my book club.

Erotic Tales for Punjabi Widows.

Regular visitors to my blog will find that India and Pakistan are settings I gravitate towards when picking a new book to read. Here we are based in exotic Southall and sunny Enfield (The latter a mere stone’s throw from where I currently sit) yet we still are permitted to learn about the realities of life for Punjabi women in a modern London

Nikki is concerned that her sister is settling for less than she deserves by choosing an arranged marriage via the message board at the Temple. She feels deep guilt that her youthful rebellion of throwing away a promising degree in law and desertion of the family home in favour of more literary aspirations forced her traditional Father to an early grave.

This emotional baggage is all the experience that she takes into an evening class where she will be teaching creative writing to a group of traditional Sikh Widows. A more vocal and opinionated bunch you could not find! There initially for a myriad of reasons, a lack of literacy and fluency in English being the uppermost, Nikki discovers that they believe she will be teaching a English language course.

Nikki is at a loss, she wanted to curate an anthology of feminine Sikh voices. What she ultimately gets is a number of sweetly innocent tales of a mildly raunchy nature, the kind of fantasies and revelations no one expects from women of this community. Through sharing these stories the dynamics of the group and the people in their sphere shift and secrets long held begin to be excavated, examined and exorcised

I thoroughly enjoyed the book, the lighter parts punctuated by the stories, are balanced rather brilliantly with a much darker and very topical undertone of misogyny and extreme traditionalism, where the need to protect respect and honour veers off into a need to blindly control and coerce.

The characterisation is vivid and varied and each person has their own distinct voice within the narrative as a whole. What is most refreshing for me is that none of the women fall into stereotypes making the plot less predictable and their personal stories show a commonality between people who at first seem Pole opposite and culminate in a brilliant act of altruism that warrants much praise.

A strong four star read.

There's a well-intentioned and interesting premise behind this book as a British-Asian girl connects with a community of women in Southall, London. Giving a voice to women who are often seen as voiceless, this has important things to say about what it means to live across cultures, as well as thinking about gender and writing.

It's a shame, then, that Jaswal doesn't seem to have found an authentic narrative voice for herself yet, falling back into that typical chick-lit tone of self-deprecating 'hilarity', complete with asides and well-worn jokes about the difficulties of finding a man.

So lots of promise and potential - I hope Jaswal can find a way to speak for herself rather than through such a derivative voice as she has important and interesting things to say.

Nikki doesn't know what she wants to do with her life. She quit her law degree and is now working in a pub. Looking for a way to earn a bit of money she takes a job to teach a storytelling class for widows at a temple in Southall.

At first, Nikki is dismissive of her students, expecting them to be dull and timid. She thinks that she can get them to tell stories that she can then create a book from - it felt almost as though she set out to exploit them.

She soon finds out that most of the women in the class don't know how to read and write, and her job is actually to teach them. Not only that, her students were pushed into signing up and resent being taught as though they were children. They quickly hijack Nikki's class, and turn it into the storytelling class it was meant to be, but with a twist. They want to tell erotic stories!

I found it hard to get into at first. A lot of characters are introduced, conversations wander, everything feels vague and the students are hard to tell apart from each other. Nikki feels bland and her personality doesn't come across very strongly. Her class is quickly taken away from her and she is pushed around by her students and her work mates.

It settled down after the first 40% or so, and I found myself engrossed in the story. The students' personalities start to emerge and I could see that they were a group of lively, smart women all with their own views on life. Their conversations were so funny! I loved reading their life stories.

The erotic stories are wonderful little gems dotted throughout the book. The widows say they can get away with telling them because they are forgotten and ignored by their community. No one pays them attention, they are expected to fade into the background.

Still, they have to keep what they are doing secret. A group of young men known as The Brother's patrol the community watching the women to make sure they are behaving properly.

That brings in a darker theme to the book. Nikki's boss at the temple Kulwinder starts to become suspicious of what they are doing in the class and they are in danger of being found out. And something has happened to Kulwinder's daughter Maya that everyone keeps hinting at but no one will explain to Nikki.

At the end the pacing felt off again, everything happens in a rush. It's all resolved very neatly, everything is tied up and ends happily. It's positive and uplifting, but I don't feel like it would actually happen. There's a dark side to the book but the reality behind this feels pushed to one side in favour of a happy ending.

But at the same time, I do like that it ends positively. This is a warm and kindhearted book, I feel like Balli Kaur Jaswal really loves her characters and this shines through in her writing. The happy ending feels right for the book, and it certainly left me feeling happier!

This novel is a real revelation of the immigrant experience and community set in Southall, London. Nikki is a independent woman, law school dropout, protester, caught between the traditional values of her punjabi home and her more natural inclination to adhere to the more modern feminist agenda. She is living above a pub on a peppercorn rent where she works as bartender. She is skint, pondering her future, and against all her natural instincts, goes to a Southall temple to post a flyer about her sister, Mindi, who is looking for a arranged marriage and requesting that suitable men get in touch. Whilst there, Nikki spots a job advert for a tutor to teach creative writing for two evenings a week. She gets the job only to discover that she is getting more than she bargained for.

The class comprises primarily punjabi widows, lonely, lost, isolated and mostly illiterate. There is no way they are in a position to engage in creative writing. However, the women do not take kindly being taught how to read and write with resources aimed at young children. They are interested in engaging in oral storytelling, but of the type that is traditionally frowned upon in the community and challenges the role of women. They want to connect with and express their sexuality through the telling of rather racy and erotic tales. All of this has to be kept secret from the course organiser, Kulwinder, who is still grieving over the suicide of her daughter, Maya. It also has to be kept secret from the rest of the community and a group of hardline brothers who have set themselves up to police the morality and honour of women to ensure they stick to traditional expectations. Nikki finds herself getting closely involved with the women, caught up in a new love affair, and untangling a mystery that brings her great danger.

This novel is full of wit, warmth and humour. It took me a little while to get into it, but once I got absorbed, I absolutely loved it. This is a story of women finding the courage to express their sexuality and become both more decisive and more independent. They support one another and the group grows as more women join them. Nikki finds a new place for herself within the community, becomes closer to her family and gains the impetus to change the direction of her life. Absolutely wonderful book that I highly recommend. Thanks to HarperCollins for an ARC.

What a lovely surprise!

In a hurry to leave the house, I downloaded the "next to read" book on my list but didn't have time to check the description... so despite the book's title, I was delighted to be plunged headfirst into a community of Punjabi women of all ages, some modern, some more traditional but all totally believable and written with warmth and compassion. For example, the scene in which Sarab makes chai (can't write more, spoilers) is just lovely.

I think a big part of the appeal is that the author is not British so she's able to write with an outsider's view of life in a Punjabi community in Southall, West London.

Highly recommended, I've added the author's other books to my "must read" list.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the advance review copy, it's much appreciated!

p.s. (February/March 2017) If you have access to BBC iPlayer might like to watch Tony Singh's episode of the BBC series A Cook Abroad:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/...
He travels to the Punjab and so we see him eating and preparing many of the foods mentioned in the novel, it makes for a fascinating companion, especially to those of us who miss Southall's shops and restaurants.

p.p.s. I'm also bewildered by the 1 and 2 stars awarded by a couple of people who haven't written any reviews - maybe it's in error?

This book wasn't for me so DNF'd. I think it may be one a lot of people enjoy however