The Henna Artist

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.

This is a beautifully written story about India in the 1950's. Lakshmi, 17, escapes from her arranged and abusive marriage from her rural village to the vibrant town of Jaipur. She has worked hard as a henna artist (and confidant) to the wealthy of the upper class. Lakshmi has also learned how to use herbs from her mother in law to treat many conditions, including unwanted pregnancies, which has helped her to save even more money. This has helped Lakshmi to save enough money to build her own house. After 13 years, her husband, Hari, tracks her down and has a surprise for Lakshmi, her 13 year old sister that she never knew. Suddenly everything Lakshmi has worked so hard for threatens to come crashing down.

I really liked Lakshmi. I thought she was a strong female character trying to make the best out of her situation. I adored Makil, her young servant boy. Too many other characters to mention. The story is rich with Indian details and multi layered characters. This was an excellent debut novel. I look forward to reading more by this author.

The book has a glossary in the back for the many different Indian words and phrases. I didn't need this as much as I thought I would. I wish I would've notice the list of characters in the beginning of the book. There are a lot and sometimes I was confused trying to keep them all straight in my head!

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.