Nikki gets a job to teach creative writing to women at a Sikh temple in Southall, a district of west London, close to Heathrow Airport. This novel tells the tale of Nikki, some Punjabi widows and the stories they make together.
Okay, first things first, ignore the title as this novel is NOT porn. Yes, the Punjabi Widows can tell some saucy tales but these are not crude and are not a source for masturbation. This novel is about a community, how it works and what is important to them.
Politicians have complained about people living parallel lives and this book enables the reader to understand the long standing Punjabi community in west London. Balli explains the culture very well indeed and by the end of this book I felt as though the characters were my neighbours. Even their Punjabi first names seemed so familiar after a short while.
I found this book very easy to read and follow. Although the creative writing classes were held in a Sikh temple, Balli does NOT include religion in her novel. The overall feeling of this book was sweet, even though there was some danger near the end.
There is some mild humour in the way Balli tells her story, for example…
Worst of all, the title of her blurb made her sound like a supermarket seasoning mix: Mindi Grewal, East-West Mix.
and also…
She wandered around for a while but avoided asking for directions. She had once entered a church in Islington looking for directions and made the mistake of telling the minister that she had lost her way. The ensuing conversation about locating her inner spirituality took forty-five minutes and did nothing to point towards the Victoria line.
Then we have the lovely little bits of Punjabi culture to enlighten the reader, for example…
‘Hai, you idiot’ Mum said. ‘Why didn’t you put it in a microwaveable container first?’
‘Why didn’t you store it in one?’ Nikki asked. ‘Ice-cream tubs are misleading.’ It was a suggestion stirred from years of crushed hopes from searching Mum’s fridge for dessert and instead discovering blocks of frozen curry.
‘The containers work just fine,’ Mum said. ‘They’re free.’
and also…
‘My mother-in-law did the same thing,’ Arvinder said. ‘Not on the wedding night, she left us alone that night. But many nights I’d fall asleep and wake up to see her snoring peacefully between us. I asked my husband, “Doesn’t that noise bother you?” He said, “Noise? What noise? She’s my mother.”’
… I enjoyed reading this novel, it was not erotic but sweet and warm. It shone the light on people living parallel lives in Britain and how we all share love and loyalty with our families. The most moving part of this story for me was not Nikki or any of the Punjabi widows but an old married couple, Sarab and his wife Kulwinder who gave Nikki the teaching job at the temple. Kulwinder went back to India for a holiday and when she returned Sarab took her straight to a McDonald’s…
She pictured him sitting there every evening, ordering his regular meal - Fillet-O-Fish and Chicken McNuggets - and chewing slowly to pass the time. The prepared meals would still be in the freezer when she got home, and she would defrost them for dinner for the next few weeks. This happened every time she went away without him. In a strange way, it was comforting. If Sarab couldn’t eat home-cooked food without her, it meant he had missed her, a sentiment he would never express in words. It also reminded Kulwinder that he would survive without her.
...So, enough of the quotes, I found this a GOOD book that was refreshing to read and I vote it 4 stars.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Harper Collins UK for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.
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