The Widows of Malabar Hill

De: Sujata Massey

Narrado por: Soneela Nankani

Introducing an extraordinary female lawyer-sleuth in a new historical series set in 1920s Bombay! Bombay, 1921: 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 law degree from Oxford, Perveen also has a tragic personal history that makes her especially devoted to championing and protecting women's legal rights. 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 is going through 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 if they forfeit what their husband left them? 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 about the will 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. Inspired in part by a real woman who made history by becoming India's first female lawyer, 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.©2018 Sujata Massey (P)2018 Recorded Books

Narrator influenced my enjoyment

This is one of those times where the narrator got in the way of enjoying the story. At times she was on point and the story flowed. It was her over-enthusiastic reading of the narrative that deadened my enjoyment -- her accents were fine with me. I almost stopped a couple of hours into the story-line, but the well-written story took over the narrator's deficits. And learning about a female's life in historical India culture was fascinating.

Enjoyed the story, narrator grated on my nerves

I appreciated the well written mystery of this story, but I hope that the narrator gets some training in how a narrative voice should sound. Compared to Davina Porter's excellent narrative intonation, this woman did a great job while speaking the voices; it was when she was reading the narration that she had it all wrong. If it hadn't have been for the mystery, and the well presented voices, I likely would have given this book up before finishing it.

Good story, worth sticking with it

The story was very interesting and pulled together nicely. The voices were well done. The American accent for the narrative was not a problem but that particular accent was cloyingly melodramatic, lending an adolescent tone that was a little off putting. Very interesting blend of cultures and traditions taking place 100 years ago.

not gripping

not sure why, but I just didn't get drawn into the story as I usually do. likeable characters, plenty of goings on. A bit simplistic in developing and revealing the crime and surrounding mysteries. good, but noir great. informative about the times.

India in the Time of British Rule

The Widows of Malabar Hill was a very interesting listen . . . rich with atmospheric details, and at a time in India (1917-1921) when the Brits ruled with arrogance and by looking down their long noses over the natives of the land . . . particularly sad was the state of women during the early 1900s, whose value and place in society ranked even lower than their male counterparts . . . Perveen Mistry, favored to be raised in the home of parents who believed in educating their daughter and that women would one day be given a place in the courts to serve as litigators, sent her to school abroad in England, at Oxford, where she earned her law degree, becoming India's first woman attorney. Yet, she could only do the background, behind-the-scenes work, and not appear in court. That three year trip abroad opened Perveen's eyes to many strange and perverse things, such as women sleeping with other women . . . which could have just as easily been left out, as it added nothing to the story . . . and ALMOST stopped me from continuing the book . . . but I am SO glad it didn't . . . it was a blimp on the radar, nothing more . . . no political agenda, although Perveen's friend, Alice is homosexual, it never came up again . . . the story went back and forth between 1917 (when Perveen was at first in law school in India and suffered terrible mistreatment from the men at the school and finally dropped out) and 1921 (when she was back in India representing the three widows of Malabar Hill). I learned so much about the customs and ways of India in the early 1900s, about the English and the Indian people, their different belief systems . . . and especially how difficult it was and probably still is for women in India. What Perveen learned through her own horrific marriage to a man who abused her and whose family abused her, made for a very hard apprenticeship, but it was the makings of her becoming the very best representative for India's women. Bravo!!! Excellent book and listen!