The Story of a Widow.

Julie Rekai Rickerd is a Toronto broadcaster and public relations
consultant.

Tradition plays a leading role in this novel set in Karachi, Pakistan. Society and her extended family expect Mona, recently widowed at the age of 50 and the mother of two grown daughters, to live out her remaining life alone, with only the memories and a large photograph of her late husband to keep her company. The fact that Mona’s long marriage had been a miserable one in which her husband subjugated her every whim and desire to his command did not change matters. A widow of her age and social class had no options. She was to be grateful that her late husband left her a large house and most comfortable means.

When a widower becomes a tenant in Mona’s neighbour’s house and begins to woo her, chaos erupts. Her aunt and uncle threaten to disown her while her daughters and their families are all shocked and disapproving.

In spite of these obstacles, Mona asserts her will and, to everyone’s surprise, including her own, she marries the man. Only her sister gives her the benefit of a doubt and encourages her to follow her heart.

They do not live happily ever after. Incident after incident confirms Salamat Ali, her new husband, to be a drunk and a scoundrel. Shocked by these revelations, Mona is at first disbelieving and then determined to make things right, not for him or her family but for herself alone. The manner in which she goes about reclaiming her life and abandoning tradition is the theme of this well-written novel.

The author succeeds in transporting the reader into an exotic, foreign society that finds great difficulty in relinquishing its centuries-old traditions. The characters are well-defined without being stereotypes. The twists and turns of the plot add just the right elements of suspense to keep the pages turning. This novel is an excellent exposition of the social mores of a society in which a woman’s role is often limited to being seen but not heard and how one particular woman rebels against this role and redefines her life in the process.