Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows, by Balli Kaur Jaswal

What a fantastic, original book.

What is in a name? In the case of Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows, everything and more.

Balli Kaur Jaswal has spun an incredible, eye-opening story into the lives of Punjabi widows, how honor is their highest desired attribute, and how women are to be quiet, meek, and chaste. Men lead the houses, the society, and the bedroom, yet women, especially the widows in Jaswal's book, have thoughts of their own.

When Nikki, a modern Punjabi 22-year-old, answers an ad for a teaching position at the local temple to help illiterate women learn to write and read, she is met with opposition as to her way of life, thinking, and curriculum. These women don't want to learn to write their A, B, Cs, they want to tell and transcribe their fantasies.

I must say, this book is steamy. Not in a Colleen Hoover way, but more in a clean, sensual, and romantic way. Think courgette in place of penis and peach instead of vagina.

Fantastical names of body parts and PG language to describe hot, sensual scenes aside, this book gives a fascinating insight into the tight-lipped, buttoned-up community of Punjabi women. I was amazed at what I didn't know and somewhat surprised by all I learned.