This summer our book club read The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey, book one of the Perveen Mistry Series and had a lovely evening discussing this mystery. Below please find some of our notes from the discussion in the hopes that your book club might find them helpful.
Books in the series: The Satapur Moonstone (2019) The Bombay Prince (2021) The Mistress of Bhatia House (2023)
Inspired in part by a real woman who made history by becoming India’s first female lawyer, Cornelia Sorabji.
Summary from Publisher:
“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 legal education from Oxford, Perveen also has a tragic personal history that makes her especially devoted to championing and protecting women’s rights.
Mistry Law is handling the will of Mr. Omar Farid, a wealthy Muslim mill owner who has left three widows behind. But as Perveen goes through the papers, she notices something strange: all three have signed over their inheritance to a charity. What will they live on if they forfeit what their husband left them? Perveen is suspicious.
The Farid widows live in purdah: 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. It’s her responsibility to figure out what really happened on Malabar Hill, and to ensure that nobody is in further danger.”
Discussion Topics Covered In Book Club:
- Period and cultural details (Malabar Hill was originally a settlement of large Victorian bungalows)
- Two plotlines and timelines, traveling back and forth in time to tell the story
- Preveen’s friendship with Englishwoman Alice Hobson-Jones
- Perveen as a main character
- Perveen’s relationship with Cyrus
- Perveen’s relationship with her father
- Slow buildup of the mystery and its impact on enjoyment of the story
Resources:
sarahcantstopreadingbooks.com 
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