She and her husband Sarab spend their evenings in silence, with the curtains drawn, blocking their view of Tarampal's house across the street. Kulwinder has been living in fear and despair ever since the death of her daughter. A few months earlier, Kulwinder's daughter Maya died while living under Tarampal's roof, destroying the women's close friendship forever. Tarampal, one of Nikki's students, disapproves of the erotica project, and complains to Kulwinder, who mistrusts Tarampal and dismisses her complaints. The writing class becomes a erotic storytelling workshop. Nikki quickly realizes that the widows have a wealth of knowledge on the subjects of desire and sexuality, and are eager to share their own fantasies. One day, Sheena finds an English book of erotica, and Nikki walks in on her reading the stories to the widows. Only Sheena, the youngest widow of the bunch, can read and write. When the creative writing courses begin, Nikki realizes that they are not exactly what Kulwinder, the Community Director of the Sikh Association, had advertised the students are largely illiterate widows who have signed up to bring some variety to their days. Nikki's mother warns her to be careful working in Southall, reminding her of Karina Kaur, who was murdered there some 20 years earlier, and whose killer was never caught. There, Nikki spots an ad for a teaching position for a creative writing class for women, and decides to apply, hoping to empower Punjabi students to share stories about their lives. Her more traditional sister Mindi enlists Nikki's help posting an ad on a marriage board in Southall, London's borough of Punjabi expatriates. Nikki is a law school dropout, living in London above a pub where she spends her evenings tending bar and wishing for a job with more purpose. The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Jaswal, Balli Kaur.

Punjabi widows