![Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows: A Book Review]()
Drama |
I read Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal before it took the book world by a storm. Ok not the book world, at least the book blogger community loved and everyone who read it raved it. But how did it fare on my scale? Let us get on to the review!
About Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows
Book Name: Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows
Author: Balli Kaur Jaswal
Genre: Fiction – Romance, Drama
Characters: Nikki, Kulwinder, Jason, Mindi, Olive,
Setting: Southall, London, the UK
Plot Summary of Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows
Meet Nikki, a law school dropout, is trying to make her try at being independent after she finally got out of her over-bearing immigrant mother’s house. She tries to distance herself from her Sikh community, that is too traditional and sexist for her liking. Impetuously, she signs up to teach a Creative English course for the widows of her Punjabi community to earn some quick bucks.
A gross miscommunication leads to her teaching basic English to the lonely widows and most of them turn out to be illiterates. During the classes Nikki realizes these women are much more interested in oral story telling, especially erotic ones.
While the traditional Sikh community considers this as a scandalous act, especially for widows to be involved in, the women (with Nikki’s help) continue their lessons. They try and keep it a secret from the ‘Brotherhood’, a self appointed moral police team, who take it upon themselves to protect the virtue of the woman in their clan.
There is another much more interesting sub plot involving another younger woman who had ‘committed suicide’ after disagreeing with her husband’s way of living and was generally ‘too modern’.
Did the Brotherhood have a hand in her death? Does Nikki’s attempt to bring in empowerment to these widows through erotica meet with the same hatred? You will have to read the Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows on your own to find the answers.
Book review of Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows is one of the most ‘un-put-down-able’ book I read so far this year. I read through it fast and still couldn’t get to the last page quick enough. I needed to know the answers right then and there. But sensibility prevailed and I didn’t peek into the last page to find the answers. The writing was crisp and fast paced.
Yes there are some ‘erotic stories in them but they are written tastefully (is that correct word here?) and not cringe worthy at all. But if you do not wish to read them, you can skip them and it will not hinder the flow of the novel at all.
It has been a while since I loved the side characters and Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows has a bunch of well written and quirky characters.
While I didn’t like Nikki’s holier-than-thou attitude, I was able to relate to her at some point (or did I?) coming from a desi background and all. She reminded of the small sexist things that we do because our tradition demands it and how hapless women who can’t and won’t fight against them are.
Also I was reminded me of the BBC’s sitcom ‘Citizen Khan’ and I am definitely gonna watch them again in a bit.
What worked for me
- I loved the narrative pace and it kept me on my toes until the end. Truly un-put-downable!
- Kudos to the author in keeping the erotic stories in taste and yet interesting.
- I loved the well written and memorable characters.
What may have been better
- I felt Nikki was a bit annoying and judgmental, at least in the beginning.
Bottom line
If you are looking for something light and funny, or something that might make think about thoughtful or erotic, Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows will fit your bill either way. The book is funny. It is fast paced. It talks about woman empowerment. It has it all. Read it already, I say.
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Have you Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal? Do you like books that might hit a little close to your home? What was the most unputdownable book you read this year? Let me know. We should dish!
![Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows: A Book Review]()
Thriller |
When we hear about Agatha Christie‘s books we immediately associate them with Monsieur Poirot or Miss Marple or the lesser known Tuppence. I was pleasantly surprised that none of these characters would be appearing in Crooked House.
To be honest I had never heard of it, until one of my book blogger groups chose Crooked House as the read of the fortnight. Read my book review to know how this ‘whodunnit’ turned out for me.
About Crooked House
Book Name: Crooked House
Author: Agatha Christie
Genre: Fiction – Thriller
Characters: Charles Hayward, Sophia, Brenda, Josephine, Aristide, Philip, Magda, Roger, Clemency, and Eustace Leonides, Laurence Brown, Edith de Haviland, Chief Inspector Taverner
Setting: London, The UK
Plot summary of Crooked House
Charles Hayward returns to England from European war with the hope to marry Sophia Leonides. His plans are spoiled when hears that her wealthy grandfather Aristide Leonides has been murdered, by his own family, no less. Sophia asks him to help her finding out the culprit and announces that she cannot marry him until this is solved. She also indicates that ‘it would be easier if it was the right person.’ His father, Assistant Commissioner of the Yard, gives his assent and encourages the idea.
The police suspect the young widow and the tutor while they plead innocence. As Charles gets closer to the family, he understands why Sophia mentioned their ‘ruthlessness.’ Along with Sophia’s sister Josephine, Charles tries to find out the real murderer, but not before another murder in the family. Find out who killed them by reading Crooked House by Agatha Christie
Book review of Crooked House
First off, it is DAME AGATHA CHRISTIE, so I don’t really have to say anything about her writing. She had me guessing who the killer was and kept me engrossed till the last page. Everytime Charles speaks to a member of the Leonides family, it was not only him that had to keep changing his theory but also the reader. And that is the power of Christie’s writing and the strength of her storyline.
I loved how apt the term ‘crooked’ fits to their house, the members and their characteristics. It ends kinda abruptly but it was not a big deal.
Bottom-line
It has been months since I read an Agatha Christie‘s, and Crooked House made me realize what I had been missing out. If you are in mood for a ‘whodunnit’ you can not go wrong with a Christie.
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Have you read Crooked House by Agatha Christie? What are your favorites written by the author? Do you usually read whodunnit’s? Let us chat.
![Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows: A Book Review]()
Romance |
My name is not uncommon in my part of the world and quite often I meet new people who share my name. What would you do if you stumble across a letter written to another person with your name? Would not that pique your curiosity? Would you consider that a coincidence or a divine interference? Follow Tina’s story in The Letter to find what she does when she faces such a situation.
Book Name: The Letter
Author: Kathryn Hughes
Genre: Fiction – Romance;
Characters: Tina and Rick Craig. William Lane, Billy Stirling and Chrissie Skinner
Setting: Manchester, The United Kingdom
The story begins with a young girl asking her grandmom about how she met her husband.
In the 1970s Tina Craig suffers through her abusive marriage with Rick, her violent and negligent husband. She has already once tried to get away from him but ended up being pregnant when he raped her. Against all the good judgments of her friends, she continues to stay with him.
Tina works at a charity shop where she comes across a letter in one of the coats that were given away. She realizes the letter was never unposted and the curiosity gets the better of her. She opens the letter the written by Billy to his girlfriend Chrissie in the 1940s.
Billy and Chrissie are young, star-crossed lovers from the pre-WW-II era. He writes a letter to Chrissie apologizing for his behaviour when she tells him that she was pregnant earlier that day and asks her to marry him. Tina’s heart flutters when she reads Billy’s letter and wonders what had happened to them and why the letter was never posted.
Intrigued by the coincidence that she got a letter written to another Christina, her full name, from an earlier period, Tina sets on a mission to find out the story behind the letter. She meets William who has set out from the USA, to find out his biological parents. How and where does their story unite? Did Tina get away from Rick? Read The Letter to know more.
The story alternates between the voices of Tina, Billy, and Chrissie quite smoothly. The writing is set in a heartwarming tone with a tinge of poignancy – the kind that would leave you feeling mushy even after you finish reading it. I found The Letter on the Amazon top charts a while ago.
I loved the first part of The Letter involving Tina and her abusive husband Rick, as I always do. But the parts that followed let me down badly, maybe it is due to the plot’s credibility itself, you know too many coincidences and the predictability of the so-called twists.
The Letter is a story of two women and men they chose to love, separated by three decades, connected by the power of written words. If you were a Nicholas Spark lover, you might love The Letter.
Have you read The Letter? If so, what do you think of the book? would you want to read it? Share your thoughts. As always I love talking about books with you in the comments.
![Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows: A Book Review]()
review, Romance |
What do you do when all you have worked for threaten to fall in a minute? How do you escape from the past that you are ashamed and scared of? Parallel Lies
written by Georgia Rose attempts to answer these questions through the life of Madaliene Rose.
Book Name: Parallel Lies
Author: Georgia Rose
Genre: Fiction – Romance
Characters: Madeleine Ross, Daniel Travers, Tag, Letitia, Ben, Cubby.
Setting: England, The UK
Disclaimer: Thanks to the Author for the free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Maddy lives in a laid back, picturesque village. She has made friends with a few, yet believes she will be considered an outsider whatever she does. She wishes that she blends into their life without arousing any suspicion to escape from her past. Will the reality catch up with her fake life?
Enters Dan, her new boss who disapproves everything she does – her ethics, her job, and her lifestyle. The attraction seems mutual, but Dan would not take anything less than what he bargains for. When things finally smoothen for them, her luck runs out. Her ex and everything else that she has been running away for years have finally leaped on her. Can she survive this setback? Would running away again solve her problems? Would her self-righteous boyfriend be able to handle her truths? Read Parallel Lies to know more.
The story travels at a slow pace, but the writing grows on you. It takes about a 100 pages for the story to move, and we get to meet the other characters. Though we primarily hear the story from Maddy’s POV we get to hear Dan’s view a few times, which help us understand Maddy’s history and character better.
I loved how Maddy’s character developed throughout, from someone who was struggling to fit into her fake life to someone who has realized what she wants in life and lets her past go. I liked how she helps Kourtney to move ahead in her life, and the other minor characters like Diane and Chris are nicely etched.
I didn’t care much for the parts of Dan’s POV in the second person, and thankfully they were few and short. Parallel Lies is surely a Happily Ever After kind of story, yet it offers many variations from the heart-wrenching ones that we often get to read. It involves action, mystery, drama, and pinch (or more) of romance – a perfect combination for a summer read.
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Drama, review |
Like most readers my to be read list seems never ending, and I have lost hope that I would ever clear it off. On the other hand, my to be reviewed list is not too long but as I do not follow any hard rules in picking the book from that list to review, the books I loved too much or the books that I might find difficult to write about tend to settle farther and farther down the list.
So here I am, picking one of those books that I read a long time ago (read as almost two months) and yet was hesitant to review. Mostly for the fear that I would not be doing any justice to it or that I might be a tad partial in my critique. Someone suggested me, Zadie Smith, when I was talking about feminism and related topics. On the quest to finding her much-acclaimed debut ‘ White Teeth’ or ‘On Beauty,’ I stumbled upon Swing Time her newest release.
Book Name: Swing Time
Author: Zadie Smith
Genre: Fiction – Literary, drama
Characters: Tracey, Aimee, Lamin, Fern and unnamed narrator
Setting: The USA
Accolades:
- 2017 Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize
- Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction
- 2017 Finalist, Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction
The story follows two little ‘mixed race’ girls who grow up in the not so rich part of London Tracey, the dancer, and our unnamed narrator. Tracey stands out in everything they do together – she is confident, rebelling and imaginative and a better dancer of the two, while the narrator is a good student and hopes to get out of the neighborhood. Her mother’s upbringing makes sure she realizes that only hard work pays, while Tracey’s home-life is almost ungoverned.
She joins as an assistant to the super star singer Aimee and travels worldwide as her works demands. She loves the job as she shuttles between the UK and a downtrodden country in the West Africa where Aimee was building a girls school. She feels alienated in the Africa as much as she does in London.
Our narrator is quite taken with strong characters right from her childhood while she is happy being invisible in the backdrop. She doesn’t have any talent like Tracey or an ambition like her mother or the drive like Aimee. This makes her a less compelling character to love or remember.
How do the friends gravitate towards each other when things go south? How long could she live in the shadows of others or if she did, would she happy? Read Swing Time to know more.
The story oscillates among various time frames and places and does a brilliant job in weaving a quite fascinating tale. Though there are a few parts of the story that might have been little dragging and I admit to skimming a bit here and there, the author’s literary skill makes it all worth the while.
I found Swing Time to be a solid piece of social commentary, rather than a piece of fiction that talks about two friends, which is what it is primarily. Zadie deals a variety of themes like different races and the privileges that come with them, parenthood and the importance of family, poverty and classes, that add up succinctly into the coming of age tale.
I particularly liked the thread of dichotomies between the haves and have nots, coloured and uncoloured, the Americans and the British, the talented and privileged and the ones that aren’t, that ran throughout the novel. This is the first time I am reading Zadie Smith. I am not entirely in love with the book, but I am ready to read more of hers, like White Teeth and On Beauty that everyone has been raving so far.
Swing Time is not your typical summer reads. It has little hard to get into and harder to stick to especially in the middle. If you love reading prose that promises you insights about the society and the world as a whole accompanied by beautiful and strong writing – Swing Time should be your pick.
