I also finished this one right before Mistress and was really pleased by it. It’s funny how both are murder mystery novels but I still really enjoyed them.
The novel takes place in England and follows Nikki as she starts teaching a storytelling class to a group of Punjabi widows at the gudwara. It’s an amazing look into her life and the widows in how they experience England and how they find strength in each other/in their community.
Nikki is first generation and has been mostly separated from her community out of choice. She doesn’t speak the language very well and tends to speak against her cultures traditions as being anti-feminist. She’s very much westernized and it was lovely to see her grow and mature by interacting with the widows and learning more about women in her community.
I did enjoy the erotic stories, they were fun and did give a real insight into what each of the widows really wanted and desired. There are many unexpected twists in the stories, which I won’t reveal as you should read it. It was also great to have this book actually written by someone in the same culture/community and not by a white man/woman who has experienced it from the outside and trying to write about it as an insider. It didn’t have that sense of judgement or accusation most have when written by outsiders.
The female friendships were also really lovely and appreciated. It’s hard to find so many well rounded women in one novel that aren’t all mean and conniving against each other. It was great to see them developing a friendship that helped both Nikki and the widows find a path to be their true selves.
The murder mystery itself wasn’t at the front of the story at the beginning, it kind of creeps on you as Nikki becomes more informed and its not like she’s there trying to solve it. There’s a sense of danger from the beginning of the novel just for having women writing erotic stories and the men being against it, so it was a great build up to the ending.
Again no spoiling.
I really enjoyed this novel, finished in like two nights, and would recommend it to everyone.
-Sugar out
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