The Widows of Malabar Hill

At the gate, Fatima comes to Perveen crying and asks for help getting her father back. She says that he has been arrested by a white policeman, and she is afraid of what will happen to her and her brother, Zeid. She tells Perveen that the policeman is now bothering the women in the zenana. Perveen comforts her and goes to the zenana.

Initially, Inspector Vaughan is annoyed at her intrusion and shocked that she is a solicitor. However, he is mollified when she offers to speak with the women for him and tell him what she learns. Inside, she speaks to Sakina and Amina, who are angry at one another. Sakina explains that she asked Mohsen to get her attar, a fragrant essential oil, for a headache at a shop. Amina accuses Sakina of letting a murderer in because she is always sending Mohsen off on errands. She also insists that she heard a scream. Razia emerges from prayer and explains that the conversation Perveen overheard was them discussing what to do. Amina heard a noise and saw Mukri’s body, but Sakina did not believe her, insisting “Just because the man was dressed in an English suit, it didn’t mean he was our household agent” (207). They argued about what to do and decided to lock themselves away with their children for safety. They did not come out of their rooms until the police arrived.

Perveen asks if they have a male relative who would come and stay with them, but the women say they have no one who could travel. Perveen checks on Mumtaz, who is still in her room. Mumtaz asks Perveen to send a note to her sister, asking her to come visit. Perveen agrees.

Fatima finds Perveen and whispers to her that Razia is waiting in her car, wanting to speak privately. In the car, Razia tells Perveen that she committed the murder and should be arrested.

Perveen is taken aback by this announcement and is not sure that she believes Razia is capable of murder. She asks the other woman to walk her through what happened. Razia explains that Mukri threatened to take Amina to the street and give her to a man unless Razia changed the wakf per his wishes. To protect her daughter and the other women, she stabbed him to death.

Gently, Perveen questions her, realizing that the story doesn’t add up. It would be hard to stab him so many times through the jali, and there was no blood on her clothes. She suggests that Razia might be frightened that Amina committed the crime and was confessing to save her. She tells her she doesn’t think Amina did it and that she would be happy to be Razia’s lawyer, but she hopes to keep them all out of court.

Jamshedji leaves to go to the mill to find out how to contact Mukri’s family and agrees to drop Perveen off with Alice on the way. Perveen asks the inspector to post guards at the Farid house since the women will be unguarded.

In 1917, after sending a tersely worded telegram, Perveen boarded the train for home. She arrives and is greeted by her parents and brother, who are taken aback by her bruised face and lack of luggage. She collapses into her mother’s arms.

After food and a long nap, she and her mother speak privately. She explains about Cyrus’s abuse and learns, to her horror, that her grandfather died while she was away. Though Camellia sent word, the Sodawallas destroyed the letters and telegram, meaning that Perveen missed his funeral. Camellia confesses that she did not share some of the contents of Perveen’s letters with Jamshedji, not wanting to worry him and hoping that the relationship would improve. They agree that there must be no more secrets in the household.

Days later, her father takes her to Mistry House. He asks her to read the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act and decide what will apply to her case. Perveen is disturbed and angered by the act, which treats women as the property of their husbands and does not allow them to divorce in cases of adultery. Even Cyrus’s mistreatment of her is not cause enough since she has not lost an eye or limb. Instead of allowing her to wallow, her father tells her that the law won’t change unless a Parsi lawyer who cares about women’s rights changes it. He urges her to focus on helping him build a case in favor of her marital separation. She agrees to focus and says that she wants to return to law school, this time in Oxford.

In 1921, Perveen arrives at Alice’s house. She finds her friend looking over her record collection. Lady Gwendolyn speaks to her about the crime committed in the neighborhood, not realizing that Perveen was at the scene. Perveen begins to understand that Lady Gwendolyn is terrified of anything different and India in general.

Under the cover of listening to music, she and Alice discuss the case. Alice’s father is meeting with the police, and Perveen warns her that Muslim women cannot be forced to give fingerprints without serious political and social consequences. Alice worries that the women are trapped and helpless, but Perveen tells her that they chose purdah and are savvier than she thinks. She invites Alice to attend a film with her later that week and then heads outside to go home. A car without lights moves slowly toward her, and she is frightened before she sees that it is her father. He is angry because the guards would not let him wait outside the Hobson-Jones house and feels that they and other Englishmen are prejudiced.

At home, Perveen chats with Gulnaz and her mother. She realizes that a gap has arisen between her and her former friend ever since she married Rustom, so she invites her to come to the cinema along with Alice.

Later, she speaks with her father, and they recount what they learned. She tells him about her discoveries, and he tells her that the mill workers disliked Mukri and thought he was lazy and took advantage of Farid’s kindness. Jamshedji plans to travel to Poona to tell the Mukri family about his death, and Perveen informs him that Sakina is also from Poona. He agrees to see both families.

After family breakfast, Perveen returns to the Farid residence and speaks to Zeid as well as the ayah (nursemaid). She learns that Mohsen is still detained and Mukri stopped paying all the servants, which is why so few are left. She also finds out that Amina has disappeared. Razia refuses to summon the police but asks Perveen to send a telegram to her relatives in case they are there. Sakina worries that Mohsen committed the murder since she sent him out for rose attar, but he never returned with it. 

Perveen questions Fatima, who insists that Amina was her friend and would not have left without saying goodbye. She also visits Mumtaz, who is worried about Amina but thinks that the girl might have been adventurous enough to go out on her own. The other woman also admits she is ill from pregnancy and that she is afraid the other wives might harm her if they knew she was carrying a potential heir. She prays for Allah’s protection for herself, her baby, and Amina.

Perveen pays a visit to the attar shop, where she learns that Mohsen bought sandalwood, not rose, and he had not paid the household bill in many months. She is surprised since sandalwood is associated with love and sex. She goes to the police station and speaks with Mohsen, who admits that he was using the widows’ money to buy medicine to treat his son’s birthmark. He also tells her that Mukri was a bad man whom no one liked.

Perveen speaks to the police inspector and exhorts them to let Mohsen go on the strength of the evidence. She also chastises them for leaving the house unguarded and tells them that they would have cared more if it were Europeans. She is shocked and proud of her words, realizing for the first time her power as an attorney.

Stopping by the docks, Perveen tells Jayanth she has a job for him if he wishes to work as a durwan, or doorkeeper. Returning home, she is surprised to find Sir David in the house. He explains that the police mentioned her name to him, and she tells him that she and her father represent the Farid widows. While he sees secluded women as a problem, since they could be abused, she tells him that the women cannot leave purdah against their will and that it is their choice that is important. She also refuses to help him fingerprint the women but urges him to make sure a guard is posted at their residence.

Alice calls about the movie but is hurt when Perveen says she can’t go. The two argue, and Alice hangs up in a huff. While Perveen is stewing over the fight and going over papers in her office, she receives a call from the Farid residence, urging for help. Their driver is gone, but she pays a rickshaw driver to take her to the Malabar Hill Police Station. En route, his tires are punctured. She starts for the station on foot but is suddenly attacked by a man who throws a bag over her head.

Nervously, Perveen and her family await their hearing in the Parsi marriage court in 1917. Men from the community will judge the case. Making matters worse, her solicitor took a better case and sent his junior partner instead. Jamshedji decides that he will represent Perveen since he will do a better job. In court, case after case is presented, and Perveen is horrified by how sad and miserable they all are.

The Sodawalla’s lawyer tries to malign her, and her father is forced to speak candidly about her venereal disease, the abuse, and general mistreatment. What finally convinces the jury is his revelation that Cyrus’s younger sister never died of cholera but instead of a fever that her family neglected since she was in menstrual seclusion. The jury grants Perveen separation, arguing that it would be a danger to her life if she were made to return. Outside court, Cyrus rants at the Mistrys, vowing his eventual revenge.

Weeks later, Perveen boards the steamer for Oxford, terrified and lonely. She meets an English woman who introduces herself as Alice and lends her some opera glasses so that she can see her family one last time. Perveen feels a spark of hope and thinks that she and Alice might be good friends.