Hello and happy Friday folks! I’ve got another book review for you, so hold onto your seats! The novel is called The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters published in April of 2019, and written by Balli Kaur Jaswal. You can purchase the book here. Previously I read another novel by the same author called Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows.
The book centers around three sisters Shirina, Rajni, and Jezmeen Shergill, who partake in a pilgrimage to India following the death of their mother. Rajni, the eldest sister, is depicted as a control freak. The middle sister Jezmeen has her head in the clouds, and the youngest sister, Shirina, is the peacemaker. Being Punjabi Sikh and coming from a family of three sisters myself, I felt a natural connection to the novel and characters. The gentle tug of war of balancing tradition and modernity, when you are a first generation child to immigrant parents, was also relatable for me.
The novel’s three main characters each carried a unique burden or two. Two of the problems were surprises, one was alluded to, and one threw me for a loop and pressed upon an issue I feel passionate about. You will have to read the story to find out though because I don’t want to ruin it for anyone. My curiosity around the alluded to issue along with the ongoing challenges the characters faced kept me hooked.
As a writer I applaud Balli Kaur Jaswal’s well constructed plot structure, reeling in the book’s readers. The writing itself was not complex, consisting of simple verbs and easy to follow transitions. In that way a broad audience could enjoy the novel’s contents.
My favorite parts of the book were the excerpts from the letter the Shergill sisters’ mother wrote to her daughters.
I wondered, when reading this, if my own parents felt this way when they immigrated to America:
Be patient. India is not going to be like London. The pollution and the bustling crowds will overwhelm you immediately. You girls always joked that I talked too loudly, and I turned everything into chaos. When you enter India, I want you to think about how it felt to leave this place and go somewhere as orderly as Brittain, with ruler straight rows of houses and trains that run on time. I also want you to understand how hard it was for me, adjusting to all of that quiet.
I couldn’t agree more with what their mother wrote in her letter below:
Listen to the conversations around you. Watch people rejoicing as they rush to meet their relatives on the platforms of those smaller steps along the way. There’s no greater show of love and faith than traveling a long distance for somebody.
The below quote was not in the letter, but from either Jezmeen or Rajni’s thoughts. I do wish it was clearer whose thoughts they were in the novel. It was related to Indians who relocated abroad, but built vacation homes to return to in India. The quote rung true with what I have observed, and I appreciated the simplicity with which a commonality of humankind was relayed.
Everywhere people went, they had to remind themselves that they were somebody else.
Overall I enjoyed reading The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters, and I would give it a solid 4.5 stars out of 5. If you are looking for a good book to pick up or add to your TBR list, give this book a shot.Have you read this novel, and if so what did you think of it? Read any other good books lately that you recommend? Do tell – I would love to know.
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