"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." 

I saw this book as a recommended read on Twinkle Khanna's Instagram. The book name is interesting enough to pique anyone's interest. Or, in other words, it was the book's name that intrigued me into getting it. Sadly, it took me 6 to 8 months to find a copy of this book. It was out of stock at Liberty books and they are the only ones who are carrying it here in Pakistan. Funny thing is, the book name makes the other person's eye brows raised upon asking. I really had to keep a poker face while inquiring about its availability at the counters. Luckily, upon asking one day I found it at Liberty Books pop up shop in Emporium Mall. In 2018, I faced frequent episodes of reader's block. I took the reading challenge on Good Reads website and had to complete 20 books in year. Sadly I managed to finish only 13. It took me several months to finish reading this book as well. I am glad I have finally finished this one and able to review it. Lets start off with the review. 

Erotic stories for Punjabi widows is a chic lit with a female lead. The book provides an insight into the immigrant experiences of Sikh community in England, specially the Southhall area. The story revolves aroung Nikki who is a 20 something Sikh female, born and bred in England but stuck between the traditional values of Sikh community and modernization of England environment. She is still figuring out herself and what she wants in her life. Being a Law school drop out against the wishes of her parents, she currently works in a pub and resides in a small flat above the pub. Her sister Mindi has more of a traditional mind set, probably because she is older than Nikki and wants to set an example for her by going about the cultural way of finding a suitable match for herself. She requests (more like pushes) Nikki to post a match making advert on behalf of her in the Southhall temple. Stroke of luck for Nikki, she finds a teaching job advert on the wall at temple and decides to give it a go to support herself financially and also her mother as her father has now passed away. She meets Kulwinder at the temple who posted about the teaching job. Nikki is required to teach English to a group of elder Sikh women and is expected to start the next day. Soon Nikki learns that she has been tricked, the elders do not know how to read or write English at all and neither are they willing to do so. In the beginning Nikki tries teaching them but gets a hard time as the elders find it hard to accept such a young girl for the role of teacher. As per the community standards Nikki is judged by these women based on her dressing, her lifestyle and the fact that she lives on her own apart from her parents. 

In order to help these women learn English, Nikki buys some educational aids from a shop and also buys a steamy Erotica book to play a prank on her sister to convince her out of the idea of arranged marriage. The ladies in the class somehow get hold of that book and are very intruiged by it. They decide on sharing intimate stories of their own. This sort of talk has had always been a taboo in their culture. There is also the Brotherhood of Sikh men who keep the community in line as per their own standards by asserting control and fear in the name of customs and traditions considering themselves as the morality police. As the news of these classes spread where widow women can share their fantasies, more and more women want to join in these classes. 

The story invlolves a murder, mystery, jealousy, love affair, scandal, generation gap and cultural differences. The book is a simple yet engaging write and it turned out to be very different from what I was expecting but it kept me engaged. The climax involves life threatening situation and some more action. You will have to read the book to find out the full story. 

My Verdict: 

This was my first book by Balli Kaur Jaswal and I can't say that I did not enjoy reading it. Being a Pakistani, there were many cultural familarities I could relate to. Its a good one time light read with serious drama and laugh situations here and there along with some desi erotic stories. 

Availability: 

You can buy this book from Liberty Books for Rs. 795. 

Hope you liked my review. Drop in your comments and share your feedback with me. Stay healthy and beautiful. xoxo!!!