Book Review: Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows

[Robinne Weiss]

I've been scraping the bottom of the barrel on my local library's limited selection of e-books during lockdown. In a fit of "What the hell--I've nothing to lose, right?" I checked out the book Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal, expecting to maybe make it to page ten before returning it. But, title notwithstanding, the book is an examination of British Indian culture and the empowerment of Indian women in the UK. Yes, there are a few erotic stories in it--told by the illiterate Punjabi widows who form the core characters--but the book isn't about the stories, but about the women themselves. I read to the very last page and found it surprisingly delightful.