The Henna Artist

Excellent story line and characters that are “real” and nuanced.

I had the pleasure of hearing directly from Alka Joshi about her journey to become an author and how The Henna Artist came into being. She really knows how to weave a good story and I enjoyed learning more about Indian culture. I was excited when I heard that Malik is the focus of the second book as he was my favorite character.

I have always loved reading books which has an mixture of history, culture, heritage, love, lust, hardships and struggle told to us through a story of one strong character and to me The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi is surely that book this has it all.

Set in the backdrop of post indian independence era, in the pink city of Jaipur is the story of Lakshmi Shastri the most requested Henna artist. The storyline is simple and easy to figure out but I still wanted to get through to the end, as the book apart from Lakshmi's struggle with life throws emphasis on the caste system in India )which is very much prevalent even today in certain parts of India), the usage, power and healing properties of the application of Henna and how people of those days preferred herbs and home remedies than lab produced medicines. The book also gave me a tour of the city and the lifestyle of the people of Jaipur.

The author has dedicated this book to her mother from whose life she drew inspiration to pen this book so beautifully. The book holds a lot of strong and loveable characters for instance Malik, I liked his character and his faithfulness towards Lakshmi. Even the Parakeet (Bird) was very charming.

Will recommend this book if you are someone who love history and getting to know the rich heritage and culture of India.

While the book was predictable at times it also was fast paced and easy to see how the henna artist fit into the lives of the rich and powerful in Jaipur.

Definitely want to see how the story continues.