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Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows: A Reese's Book Club Pick Paperback – March 6, 2018
Purchase options and add-ons
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.
- Print length320 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherWilliam Morrow Paperbacks
- Publication dateMarch 6, 2018
- Dimensions5.31 x 0.72 x 8 inches
- ISBN-100062645110
- ISBN-13978-0062645111
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From the Publisher
Stories for Punjabi Widows | Now You See Us | The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters | |
---|---|---|---|
Customer Reviews |
4.2 out of 5 stars
11,586
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4.0 out of 5 stars
236
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4.2 out of 5 stars
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Price | $17.99$17.99 | $18.40$18.40 | $13.88$13.88 |
Editorial Reviews
Review
“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 Back Cover
Every woman has a secret life . . .
Nikki, a modern daughter of Indian immigrants, has 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 impulsively takes a job teaching a “creative writing” course at the community center in the beating heart of London’s close-knit Punjabi community.
The proper Sikh widows who show up are expecting to learn English, not short-story writing. When one of the widows finds a book of erotica and shares it with the class, Nikki realizes that beneath their white dupattas, her students have a wealth of fantasies and memories that they’ve held in for far too long. 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 the class grows, a group called the Brothers, who have appointed themselves Southall’s “moral police,” threaten to reveal the class’s scandalous stories and the mysterious secrets lurking beneath this seemingly sedate, tight-knit community.
About the Author
The daughter of a diplomat, Balli Kaur Jaswal was born in Singapore and grew up in Japan, Russia, and the Philippines. She received a BA in Creative Writing from Hollins University in Virginia and a PhD from Singapore’s Nanyang Technical University. Her essays and op-eds about diaspora, censorship, racism, and sexuality have appeared in the New York Times, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29, The South China Morning Post, Harper’s Bazaar, and Salon.com. She lives with her family in Singapore, where she is a professor at Yale-NUS.
Product details
- Publisher : William Morrow Paperbacks; Reprint edition (March 6, 2018)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 320 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0062645110
- ISBN-13 : 978-0062645111
- Item Weight : 8.8 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.31 x 0.72 x 8 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #23,141 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #59 in Mystery Erotica
- #111 in Humorous Erotica (Books)
- #1,971 in American Literature (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Balli Kaur Jaswal is the author of four novels, including Singapore Literature Prize finalist "Sugarbread," and the international bestseller "Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows," which was a selection of Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine book club. Her debut novel "Inheritance" won the Sydney Morning Herald's Best Young Australian Novelist award. Jaswal's non-fiction has appeared in the New York Times, Cosmopolitan.com, Harper's Bazaar India and Salon.com, among other publications. Her latest novel "The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters" was released to critical acclaim in 2019, and is now available in paperback.
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Top reviews from the United States
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Let me get this straight. No, this book is not erotica. It's not romance. But! Yes, this book has a couple erotic stories. Yes, you might want to read it in private. However! The stories in this book are meant to look like they are written by women who can't even write or read – they come from the heart, from experience, from loneliness and the pain of the feminine condition, so to say – when a woman is not treasured, not respected. The stories are a longing to be equal, to be loved, to be ALLOWED TO FEEL PLEASURE and to express yourself on equal terms with a man. Or a woman, for that matter. So to tell you what to expect – no, you won't be reading this book for the erotic stories. The stories are a tool. However, the stories will open up a much deeper meaning of the kinds of problems women have faced for CENTURIES. And the kinds of problems women still face a lot in a lot of societies.
So now that we've got the erotic stories bit out of the way, we can talk more about the plot of this book. And it's a complicated one – you can not shelve this book into any trope, plot or genre. It's complex and it will give you food for thought. Starting out whimsical and upbeat, it gives you an impression of a fun and easy read at first – but that's not all it is. It does have its dark and complicated moments, and it delves deep into the problems of a community, particularly one that is fixated on purported purity and keeping up a family's honor. Which is irreconcilable with the modern world, especially where it forces 'duties' upon the woman, without giving her any rights or respecting her choices. Perhaps the scariest part of it isn't even the women who are forced into living a life like that, but women who wholeheartedly believe in a lifestyle like this (for those who've read the book, an example would be Tarampal.) There is nothing sadder than a person from an oppressed group identifying with the oppressors and defending their cause. That is the ultimate defeat. Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows will present a lot of points of view of women like this, and you won't be able to help understanding them all, even the ones like Tarampal, who have identified with their torturers.
Nikki and Mindi – the modern sister and the slightly more traditional sister – show the difference between generations and traditional versus modern so well. Both Niki and Mindi seem to be slightly hyperbolized versions of those sides, and they show the clash very well. While Nikki was slightly annoying to read because she is indeed irresponsible and doesn't consider that some of the things her sister and mother do or say make, in fact, a lot of sense, you still couldn't disregard that her more modern and feminist outlooks are closer to home for most of us. And Mindi was also hard to stomach because of how she defers to traditionalism and "the woman's place" in society and family, but then again, you couldn't disregard that she is right about so many things about Nikki, and she's been there because she's older. Instead of rebelling, she just sighs and keeps going, or tries to find a more socially appropriate solution to a problem. Nikki and Mindi also show the clash between cultures, the more traditional Indian culture in the case of Mindi, and cosmopolitan or individualistic culture in Nikki – because she's younger and the Western ways have rubbed off on her much more than Mindi. Both ways of living are valid – but it illustrates very well the struggles of choosing the way that's best for you if you were born in a multicultural setting.
Some very troubling and painful things happen in this book. Some of them are the kinds of things that could tear apart a whole community. You would think you're reading a fun story, but like I said, this is about very real, very serious things. But the presentation! The presentation is amazing for several reasons. First of all, everything is presented in a very discreet way – even the very personal things the women confess or feel are put so very discreetly and without judgement that it evokes respect in a natural way. Secondly, there is no judging tone – just the facts. You get to make your own observations and draw conclusions. That is a very good way to drive discussion and tell a story – you are way more invested when reading a book like that. This is one of the reasons I enjoyed Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows the most.
This is for all those foreigners like me reading a book on Punjabi culture. The cultural commentary was amazing! Obviously, I can only speak from a reader's point of view and only a Punjabi person could tell you how accurate it was – but it seems to be genuine, especially because of the author's roots. But as someone who previously had zero knowledge about the Punjabi Sikh communities, I was blown away by the cultural details. I was taught so many small, but meaningful things I could have never learned, had I not read this book. It's worth reading for that alone, if not for the tough issues it delves into!
If I've painted the book in colors too dark, please forgive me – I just wanted you to have a good understanding of what this book actually is about. But there is a reason it's called a 'dark comedy' sometimes – even though those #feels might make you weep while reading this, you will also laugh a lot. It is written in an easy style, and it has a lot of whimsical things, especially regarding the stories! It's not all a heavy read. I promise you will laugh!
But Beware Of The Triggers
In a story like this, obviously there are triggers. Lots of them. Violent murder, threats, social oppression, oppression of women. I am pretty sure rape is mentioned a couple of times, as is religious prosecution. And of course, there are all the erotic stories with all the... yeah. It would be hard to name everything, so just keep in mind that this is heavy topic material at times.
Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2018
Let me get this straight. No, this book is not erotica. It's not romance. But! Yes, this book has a couple erotic stories. Yes, you might want to read it in private. However! The stories in this book are meant to look like they are written by women who can't even write or read – they come from the heart, from experience, from loneliness and the pain of the feminine condition, so to say – when a woman is not treasured, not respected. The stories are a longing to be equal, to be loved, to be ALLOWED TO FEEL PLEASURE and to express yourself on equal terms with a man. Or a woman, for that matter. So to tell you what to expect – no, you won't be reading this book for the erotic stories. The stories are a tool. However, the stories will open up a much deeper meaning of the kinds of problems women have faced for CENTURIES. And the kinds of problems women still face a lot in a lot of societies.
So now that we've got the erotic stories bit out of the way, we can talk more about the plot of this book. And it's a complicated one – you can not shelve this book into any trope, plot or genre. It's complex and it will give you food for thought. Starting out whimsical and upbeat, it gives you an impression of a fun and easy read at first – but that's not all it is. It does have its dark and complicated moments, and it delves deep into the problems of a community, particularly one that is fixated on purported purity and keeping up a family's honor. Which is irreconcilable with the modern world, especially where it forces 'duties' upon the woman, without giving her any rights or respecting her choices. Perhaps the scariest part of it isn't even the women who are forced into living a life like that, but women who wholeheartedly believe in a lifestyle like this (for those who've read the book, an example would be Tarampal.) There is nothing sadder than a person from an oppressed group identifying with the oppressors and defending their cause. That is the ultimate defeat. Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows will present a lot of points of view of women like this, and you won't be able to help understanding them all, even the ones like Tarampal, who have identified with their torturers.
Nikki and Mindi – the modern sister and the slightly more traditional sister – show the difference between generations and traditional versus modern so well. Both Niki and Mindi seem to be slightly hyperbolized versions of those sides, and they show the clash very well. While Nikki was slightly annoying to read because she is indeed irresponsible and doesn't consider that some of the things her sister and mother do or say make, in fact, a lot of sense, you still couldn't disregard that her more modern and feminist outlooks are closer to home for most of us. And Mindi was also hard to stomach because of how she defers to traditionalism and "the woman's place" in society and family, but then again, you couldn't disregard that she is right about so many things about Nikki, and she's been there because she's older. Instead of rebelling, she just sighs and keeps going, or tries to find a more socially appropriate solution to a problem. Nikki and Mindi also show the clash between cultures, the more traditional Indian culture in the case of Mindi, and cosmopolitan or individualistic culture in Nikki – because she's younger and the Western ways have rubbed off on her much more than Mindi. Both ways of living are valid – but it illustrates very well the struggles of choosing the way that's best for you if you were born in a multicultural setting.
Some very troubling and painful things happen in this book. Some of them are the kinds of things that could tear apart a whole community. You would think you're reading a fun story, but like I said, this is about very real, very serious things. But the presentation! The presentation is amazing for several reasons. First of all, everything is presented in a very discreet way – even the very personal things the women confess or feel are put so very discreetly and without judgement that it evokes respect in a natural way. Secondly, there is no judging tone – just the facts. You get to make your own observations and draw conclusions. That is a very good way to drive discussion and tell a story – you are way more invested when reading a book like that. This is one of the reasons I enjoyed Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows the most.
This is for all those foreigners like me reading a book on Punjabi culture. The cultural commentary was amazing! Obviously, I can only speak from a reader's point of view and only a Punjabi person could tell you how accurate it was – but it seems to be genuine, especially because of the author's roots. But as someone who previously had zero knowledge about the Punjabi Sikh communities, I was blown away by the cultural details. I was taught so many small, but meaningful things I could have never learned, had I not read this book. It's worth reading for that alone, if not for the tough issues it delves into!
If I've painted the book in colors too dark, please forgive me – I just wanted you to have a good understanding of what this book actually is about. But there is a reason it's called a 'dark comedy' sometimes – even though those #feels might make you weep while reading this, you will also laugh a lot. It is written in an easy style, and it has a lot of whimsical things, especially regarding the stories! It's not all a heavy read. I promise you will laugh!
But Beware Of The Triggers
In a story like this, obviously there are triggers. Lots of them. Violent murder, threats, social oppression, oppression of women. I am pretty sure rape is mentioned a couple of times, as is religious prosecution. And of course, there are all the erotic stories with all the... yeah. It would be hard to name everything, so just keep in mind that this is heavy topic material at times.
Before long the stories are being shared among the community. Inspired by such, long married couples are once again experiencing more fulfilling marriages. Women, men (and, to her surprise, even Nikki) are learning to speak up and speak out for themselves. But fear of the “Brotherhood” is never far away as these young men act as a self-appointed morality police. But is what they’re doing immoral? Or, is it helping the community?
The story is a wonderful opportunity to learn that across cultures, age groups and marital status, there is plenty for each of us to learn about the other. With a murder mystery and some jealousy and a touch of erotica thrown in this book is a fun read. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ NOTE: Available on Kindle Unlimited
Top reviews from other countries
Like a well written hindi entertaining masala movie .
Keeps you hooked …
Definitely worth ones time and money