There's a well-intentioned and interesting premise behind this book as a British-Asian girl connects with a community of women in Southall, London. Giving a voice to women who are often seen as voiceless, this has important things to say about what it means to live across cultures, as well as thinking about gender and writing.

It's a shame, then, that Jaswal doesn't seem to have found an authentic narrative voice for herself yet, falling back into that typical chick-lit tone of self-deprecating 'hilarity', complete with asides and well-worn jokes about the difficulties of finding a man.

So lots of promise and potential - I hope Jaswal can find a way to speak for herself rather than through such a derivative voice as she has important and interesting things to say.

Nikki doesn't know what she wants to do with her life. She quit her law degree and is now working in a pub. Looking for a way to earn a bit of money she takes a job to teach a storytelling class for widows at a temple in Southall.

At first, Nikki is dismissive of her students, expecting them to be dull and timid. She thinks that she can get them to tell stories that she can then create a book from - it felt almost as though she set out to exploit them.

She soon finds out that most of the women in the class don't know how to read and write, and her job is actually to teach them. Not only that, her students were pushed into signing up and resent being taught as though they were children. They quickly hijack Nikki's class, and turn it into the storytelling class it was meant to be, but with a twist. They want to tell erotic stories!

I found it hard to get into at first. A lot of characters are introduced, conversations wander, everything feels vague and the students are hard to tell apart from each other. Nikki feels bland and her personality doesn't come across very strongly. Her class is quickly taken away from her and she is pushed around by her students and her work mates.

It settled down after the first 40% or so, and I found myself engrossed in the story. The students' personalities start to emerge and I could see that they were a group of lively, smart women all with their own views on life. Their conversations were so funny! I loved reading their life stories.

The erotic stories are wonderful little gems dotted throughout the book. The widows say they can get away with telling them because they are forgotten and ignored by their community. No one pays them attention, they are expected to fade into the background.

Still, they have to keep what they are doing secret. A group of young men known as The Brother's patrol the community watching the women to make sure they are behaving properly.

That brings in a darker theme to the book. Nikki's boss at the temple Kulwinder starts to become suspicious of what they are doing in the class and they are in danger of being found out. And something has happened to Kulwinder's daughter Maya that everyone keeps hinting at but no one will explain to Nikki.

At the end the pacing felt off again, everything happens in a rush. It's all resolved very neatly, everything is tied up and ends happily. It's positive and uplifting, but I don't feel like it would actually happen. There's a dark side to the book but the reality behind this feels pushed to one side in favour of a happy ending.

But at the same time, I do like that it ends positively. This is a warm and kindhearted book, I feel like Balli Kaur Jaswal really loves her characters and this shines through in her writing. The happy ending feels right for the book, and it certainly left me feeling happier!

This novel is a real revelation of the immigrant experience and community set in Southall, London. Nikki is a independent woman, law school dropout, protester, caught between the traditional values of her punjabi home and her more natural inclination to adhere to the more modern feminist agenda. She is living above a pub on a peppercorn rent where she works as bartender. She is skint, pondering her future, and against all her natural instincts, goes to a Southall temple to post a flyer about her sister, Mindi, who is looking for a arranged marriage and requesting that suitable men get in touch. Whilst there, Nikki spots a job advert for a tutor to teach creative writing for two evenings a week. She gets the job only to discover that she is getting more than she bargained for.

The class comprises primarily punjabi widows, lonely, lost, isolated and mostly illiterate. There is no way they are in a position to engage in creative writing. However, the women do not take kindly being taught how to read and write with resources aimed at young children. They are interested in engaging in oral storytelling, but of the type that is traditionally frowned upon in the community and challenges the role of women. They want to connect with and express their sexuality through the telling of rather racy and erotic tales. All of this has to be kept secret from the course organiser, Kulwinder, who is still grieving over the suicide of her daughter, Maya. It also has to be kept secret from the rest of the community and a group of hardline brothers who have set themselves up to police the morality and honour of women to ensure they stick to traditional expectations. Nikki finds herself getting closely involved with the women, caught up in a new love affair, and untangling a mystery that brings her great danger.

This novel is full of wit, warmth and humour. It took me a little while to get into it, but once I got absorbed, I absolutely loved it. This is a story of women finding the courage to express their sexuality and become both more decisive and more independent. They support one another and the group grows as more women join them. Nikki finds a new place for herself within the community, becomes closer to her family and gains the impetus to change the direction of her life. Absolutely wonderful book that I highly recommend. Thanks to HarperCollins for an ARC.

What a lovely surprise!

In a hurry to leave the house, I downloaded the "next to read" book on my list but didn't have time to check the description... so despite the book's title, I was delighted to be plunged headfirst into a community of Punjabi women of all ages, some modern, some more traditional but all totally believable and written with warmth and compassion. For example, the scene in which Sarab makes chai (can't write more, spoilers) is just lovely.

I think a big part of the appeal is that the author is not British so she's able to write with an outsider's view of life in a Punjabi community in Southall, West London.

Highly recommended, I've added the author's other books to my "must read" list.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the advance review copy, it's much appreciated!

p.s. (February/March 2017) If you have access to BBC iPlayer might like to watch Tony Singh's episode of the BBC series A Cook Abroad:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/...
He travels to the Punjab and so we see him eating and preparing many of the foods mentioned in the novel, it makes for a fascinating companion, especially to those of us who miss Southall's shops and restaurants.

p.p.s. I'm also bewildered by the 1 and 2 stars awarded by a couple of people who haven't written any reviews - maybe it's in error?

This book wasn't for me so DNF'd. I think it may be one a lot of people enjoy however

From the moment I saw the cover of this book I knew it would be a charming read but I didn't expect to love the story so much.

Thoroughly enjoyed the stories written by the women themselves and the layout with the stories interspersed with the overall book plot was perfect. It was great to read about women of all ages forming a bond together and making friends despite their differences.

Jaswal has written such beautiful characters here. Even the darker element of the plot in this book was wholly intriguing and well written. I sincerely wish there were more books about these characters, a series would be outstanding.

Great fun! Although it was a little difficult to get into, once I'd spent a little time with the main characters I began to enjoy the book!
I learned a little about the Sikh culture and community in Southall as well as being well entertained by the story, which is quite believable.
An enjoyable read.

The basic story in this book is good. I felt though that the women's stories would have been better. I thought that it was unnecessary descriptions of sex to try and sell a book. Stories by Punjabi women would have sold without what the author terms erotica.

I enjoyed this book much more than I expected to! Although I found the premise a little unbelievable, the book is funny and has a big heart. The characters are likeable and it presents the conflict between tradition and modernity very well. It presents the benefits and drawbacks of living in a close-knit community. And parts of it are very rude!

Thank you NetGalley. I am not sure what sort of review I could write for this book which I read but could not work out whether I enjoyed it or not, may be it was not the right book at the time.

This is a story of many parts. There are the erotic stories told by the Punjabi widows as the title suggests. Who knew old ladies had such interesting tales to tell? The effect they have on their community and not just sexual outcomes.
There is a mystery or two, a fire, a romance and an integral battle of the sexes all in this one book.
What a fascinating and enjoyable read. To think you could go to a writing and learning English group and gain so much from it! I wish the classes I have been to were as interesting and challenging as this group appears.
I loved this book and if you don't mind the odd erotic story then this book is definitely worth reading.
I shall look out for more by this author as she definitely packs a lot into one story.