Balli kaur Jaswal - 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.

Comment: I saw this book being praised at a site I sometimes check for recommendations. I cannot remember now what exactly made me interested but it was convenient to read it this month for one of the challenges I'm doing.

Nikki has dropped out of law school because it wasn't a passion for her but she still hasn't been able to find something which is why she thinks it can be a good idea to help other women in her Punjabi community to write creatively. However, the classes don't go exactly as she intended or imagined for most women are older and are widowed and some don't know how to write at all. Still, things slowly progress and quicker than she imagined the ladies are sharing erotic stories instead of learning and while Nikki feels this is a great way to empower them, it might also bring some controversy if others hear about it, especially the so-called brotherhood who occupies their time making certain all laws are being met...

I didn't have any expectation about this book, honestly and even the notion the ladies would be sharing erotic tales made me imagine something less graphic, somehow I've pictured the stories would be more alluded to than described, which isn't the case. I mean, great, but the conjunction of all elements made this book feel a little disconcerting to me.

First, I didn't really connect with Nikki, the main character. Of course that many people are adrift and don't have a perfect plan for their lives, but I felt that Nikki was hard to empathize with with her lack of goals. It made it seem, to me, that comparing her personality and choices as a western type of young woman to those other women who are older and used to their conservative life was a bit too obvious and didn't convince me fully.

Nikki is, even putting aside the Punjabi/Indian roots and culture, someone I didn't find sympathetic and that did affect my appreciation of her life choices. However, I was quite glad when she decided to help the other women, although if everyone was so aware of the danger, I think it is impossible to ignore the fact something would go wrong at some point, which isn't that much of a surprise. In a way, this was a bit too predictable and along with the other elements I was inattentive to, it made for a slightly boring story in some moments.

I also imagined, as soon as the ladies join the class and start sharing the erotic stories, that this somehow would be like a metaphor/allegory or whatever, to their personal lives but apart from a few things, we don't really get to know these women that well. We don't see their actual lives, their actual thoughts, the way the stories impact them psychologically... I thought the story would have gained more from this and not from the conservative/modern dichotomy it highlights. I mean, this is obviously important too and great that women feel they can share erotic stories, but...

I confess to also have felt a little annoyed the the thought women need to hide these things, that they need to bow to religious/cultural/social rules and demands in such a diminishing way. Yes, it is how the community works and all that, but it does annoy my modern, feminist perception. This book has a happy ending, in a way, regarding this but at the same time I feel the issues mentioned are too complex for the (quick) way we got to see them being developed here.

There is also a sub plot regarding honor, a concept that is huge among certain cultures and religions. I won't write about it because it's such a distant concept for me that while i understand what it means and how many perpetuate it somehow, it makes me sad and angry. But it was one more element to add questions and stress out the danger vibe in some parts of the book and it was all too clashing. too many elements, not enough time developing them in a way that would be rewarding for the end of the book. Also, the very last page has a scene that I didn't understand the importance of it, so... many doubts in my head regarding many details.

It was interesting to learn new things, to have a different impression of a culture I really don't know much about, apart from books and articles found online, but as a fictional narrative with elements and characters I didn't connect with, this didn't end up being that great to me.

Grade: 5/10