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A review by erebus53
The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This was a book that was recommended to me as I was interested in reading something set in the 1920s. My quick review reads:
Indian girl study's law, marries badly, flash forward to after she is qualified, she is legal council for 3 widows and then murder! whodunit?
This is a historical fiction mystery and so it has a few inserts of some fairly antiquated practices. Falling foul of tradition, Perveen is captured by her husband's family and forcibly detained during her monthly "unclean time". This could be hard to read for some people, as it also deals with women who suffered and died in similar situations before such practices of traditional Zoroastrian culture were challenged and fazed out in the face of modern medical science. The rest of the story has a backdrop of the attitudes toward marriage, arranged marriages and the rules and attitudes toward marriage and its annulment in India in the early 20th century.
Perveen is a subversively anachronistic character. She meddles and fights for the rights of women, and when she finds three widows in religious seclusion from men, have signed away their inheritance to a charity, Miss Mistry smells a rat. Presuming that someone is manipulating the women, Perveen Mistry undertakes to use her privileged position as a woman trained in law, to meet with these women who will not speak to a man outside of their family, and inform them of their Legal Rights.
Soon after the women start questioning things, their caretaker is bloodily murdered, and the meddling Perveen is not prepared to back away and let the police violate these women's religious seclusion.
Oddly, this story was quite fun, if dire in places. It was informative and seems well researched. It gives a nuanced view of how the 1920s in India differed from UK and USA in the 1920s. One of Perveen's friends is expelled from her school for being overly intimate with another girl.. oops. Seems a bit of an aside, but I guess it's better than not dealing with the topic at all.
Indian girl study's law, marries badly, flash forward to after she is qualified, she is legal council for 3 widows and then murder! whodunit?
This is a historical fiction mystery and so it has a few inserts of some fairly antiquated practices. Falling foul of tradition, Perveen is captured by her husband's family and forcibly detained during her monthly "unclean time". This could be hard to read for some people, as it also deals with women who suffered and died in similar situations before such practices of traditional Zoroastrian culture were challenged and fazed out in the face of modern medical science. The rest of the story has a backdrop of the attitudes toward marriage, arranged marriages and the rules and attitudes toward marriage and its annulment in India in the early 20th century.
Perveen is a subversively anachronistic character. She meddles and fights for the rights of women, and when she finds three widows in religious seclusion from men, have signed away their inheritance to a charity, Miss Mistry smells a rat. Presuming that someone is manipulating the women, Perveen Mistry undertakes to use her privileged position as a woman trained in law, to meet with these women who will not speak to a man outside of their family, and inform them of their Legal Rights.
Soon after the women start questioning things, their caretaker is bloodily murdered, and the meddling Perveen is not prepared to back away and let the police violate these women's religious seclusion.
Oddly, this story was quite fun, if dire in places. It was informative and seems well researched. It gives a nuanced view of how the 1920s in India differed from UK and USA in the 1920s. One of Perveen's friends is expelled from her school for being overly intimate with another girl.. oops. Seems a bit of an aside, but I guess it's better than not dealing with the topic at all.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Gaslighting, and Abandonment