Inspired in part by the woman who made history as India’s first female attorney, The Widows of Malabar Hill is a richly wrought story of multicultural 1920s Bombay as well as the debut of a sharp and promising new sleuth.
Perveen Mistry, the daughter of a respected Zoroastrian family, has just joined her father’s law firm, becoming one of the first female lawyers in India. Armed with a legal education from Oxford, Perveen also has a tragic personal history that makes women’s legal rights especially important to her.
Mistry Law has been appointed to execute the will of Mr. Omar Farid, a wealthy Muslim mill owner who has left three widows behind. But as Perveen examines the paperwork, she notices something strange: all three of the wives have signed over their full inheritance to a charity. What will they live on? Perveen is suspicious, especially since one of the widows has signed her form with an X—meaning she probably couldn’t even read the document. The Farid widows live in full purdah—in strict seclusion, never leaving the women’s quarters or speaking to any men. Are they being taken advantage of by an unscrupulous guardian? Perveen tries to investigate, and realizes her instincts were correct when tensions escalate to murder. Now it is her responsibility to figure out what really happened on Malabar Hill, and to ensure that no innocent women or children are in further danger.
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“Soneela Nankani’s narration brings 1920s Bombay and Calcutta to life…Nankani adopts a soft, uninflected tone for the narrative and incorporates a variety of subtle Indian accents for the dialogue. Perveen is portrayed with both Indian and British accents depending upon whom she speaks with, most particularly when associating with her British friend, Alice Hopkins-Jones. Indian terms are fluidly interspersed with English ones, adding to the ambience of this engaging mystery with a surprising number of twists and turns. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
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