Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal (2017; 304 pages). Downloadable audiobook available via Hoopla.

When Nikki responds to the job ad at the Sikh temple, she thinks she will be teaching creative writing to Punjabi women. It sounds like something that will be interesting and helpful and hopefully help her figure out what she wants to do with her life. Nikki can’t work at the pub below her flat forever. But miscommunications have occurred. And when Nikki shows up to teach the first class she realizes that these women, all Punjabi widows recruited by the temple’s class coordinator, are illiterate and expect Nikki to teach them how to write. Overwhelmed, Nikki tries to explain to them what the class is meant to be – creative writing, inventing stories. And the women finally understand, but the stories that they want to invent turn out to be a little… steamier than what Nikki expected.

Now Nikki’s caught up in this community of women, gathering twice a week to craft and write down erotic stories. It’s completely against the strict cultural code about what Punjabi women are supposed to do. What would the class coordinator say if she knew what Nikki’s class was turning out to be? But could this maybe be just what the women needed to better understand their own lives and build new relationships now that their husbands are gone?

I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into by picking up this book, but I really enjoyed it. I really liked the strong characters and the positive feminist themes. This is a book that’s all about women bonding and taking control of their lives. As she’s teaching the widows, Nikki is really learning about herself and starting to figure out where she wants her own life to go. This is a multi-generational story that has a little something for everyone – it’s got a bit of a mystery, a bit of a romance, and of course lots of steamy stories conjured up by the widows. All About Romance gives this a HOT sensuality rating (second from the top of their sensuality scale), so be aware if you don’t normally read romance novels. This book may make you blush!

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