Fallen by Linda Castill and The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey

Fallen and The Widows of Malabar Hill are both books that take us into other cultures and traditions.  The first has a contemporary setting in America, and the second takes us to Bombay in 1921, one hundred years ago and a time presaging great upheaval.  The power of fiction to engage our interest in lives that are very different from our own, to make us curious as we are informed, is one of the most important aspects of reading for many of us.

I read Fallen in March, but held back the review until closer to publication.  

Kate Burkholder left the Amish community years ago, but her familiarity with Amish customs and traditions are useful in her job as police chief in Painters Mill.  Having grown up in an Amish family, Kate understands and often sympathizes with the men and women she interviews during an investigation.  It doesn't mean she agrees with their thinking or their behavior, but she does have a context for it.  Even in devout communities, crimes occur and victims need justice.

When Rachael, "the only girl as bad at being Amish as Kate was" is found dead in a motel room in Painters Mill, Kate realizes she knew her years ago.  Rachael had been rebellious, eventually banned, and had left town for another life beyond Amish restrictions.  Why had she returned and who would have committed this brutal murder?

Each of Castillo's Kate Burkholder books functions as a standalone, an added bonus to an excellent series.  Her books are interesting because of the well-developed characters, the plots, and the insight into the Amish way of life.  I always look forward to new adventures with Kate.

NetGalley/St. Martin's Press

Police Procedural.  July 6, 2021.  Print length:  320 pages.

The Widows of Malabar Hill  by Sujata Massey had been on my list forever and when I started making the nightmare catchers a couple of weeks ago, it was one of the audible books (narrated by  Soneela Nankani)  I downloaded to listen to while stitching.  Loved it, just like every review said when it first came out.  

Aside from the plot, it was the insight into other cultures that made this so interesting.  Hindu, Muslim, Parsi--their laws and their customs kept me as absorbed as the well-drawn characters.  

Perveen Mistry is the first woman solicitor in Bombay and works for her father's law firm.  The backstory of Perveen's difficult road to her law degree is told in flashbacks, so there are two storylines being told and each is informative about life in 1916-1921 Bombay and about Perveen and the Mistry family. 

The current plot involves three Muslim wives after the death of their husband.  The women have all lived in purdah, seclusion from males, since their marriages, and now the mourning period is in effect as well.  As a woman, Perveen is able to visit the women and explain the terms of the will and the bequests to each of the women.  She is concerned about the estate manager's usurpation of authority in the household and about the ability of the women to understand how some of his directions would be detrimental to the widows' (and their children's) future financial situation.

I'm becoming quite addicted to audio books and Suleena Nankani's narration was excellent.  I'm debating on whether to read or listen to the next book, because of course, I have to read the next one!

------------

 Currently reading, slowly, 12 Bytes by Jeannette Winterson: "Twelve bytes. Twelve eye-opening, mind-expanding, funny and provocative essays on the implications of artificial intelligence for the way we live and the way we love - from Sunday Times-bestselling author Jeanette Winterson.  In 12 Bytes, the New York Times bestselling author of Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal? Jeanette Winterson, draws on her years of thinking and reading about artificial intelligence in all its bewildering manifestations. In her brilliant, laser focused, uniquely pointed and witty style of story-telling, Winterson looks to history, religion, myth, literature, the politics of race and gender, and computer science, to help us understand the radical changes to the way we live and love that are happening now."

The first essay was fascinating, drawing together Ada Lovelace, Mary Shelley, Charles Babbage, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Lord Byron in an intriguing history of connections, mathematics, computers, women's rights, and the fictional leap of Frankenstein.  About a third of the way in, however, the essays are more philosophical, which takes me a great deal more time to decipher and ponder.  

I suppose that like most people, I'm curious about the future of AI--a subject that is as frightening as it is fascinating.  Winterson appears to have a hopeful outlook, but as always, there is the possibility of unintended consequences.  I'll continue the essays, slowly, and doing a little Google researching on my own.