The Henna Artist

by Alka Joshi

For fans of Balli Kaur Jaswal's Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows and Thrity Umrigar's The Space Between Us, Alka Josh's The Henna Artist by is lushly-rendered, emotional book club fiction set in post-Raj 1950s Jaipur about a young woman struggling to shape her own destiny in a world pivoting between the traditional and the modern.

After fleeing an arranged marriage as a fifteen year old to an abusive older man, Lakshmi Shastri steals away alone from her rural village to Jaipur. Here, against odds, she carves out a living for herself as a henna artist, and friend and confidante to wealthy, upper caste women. Surviving by her wits and talents, she shares her knowledge and keeps their secrets in a delicate balancing act amid the changing 1950s social mores brought about by Indian Independence. Vulnerable to opinion and innuedo, at any point her intentions might be misunderstood, and she could fall prey to a damaged reputation or worse. Still Lakshmi manages to save to build a house with the dream of bringing her aging parents here to live with her and redeem herself in their eyes. Then one day her ex-husband arrives in town seeking her out with a girl in tow, a sister she did not know she had. Her sister is both passionate and reckless by nature, and all of a sudden the caution that Lakshmi has carefully cultivated is threatened, along with her livelihood. But she preseveres, and in doing so manages to lift up the others around her with her success.

Lakshmi's tenacity and spirit see her join the ranks of other brave women of historical fiction, such as Farough Farrokhzad in Jasmin Darznik's Song of a Captive Bird.With gorgeous prose and urgent themes, the novel will captivate readers of Shobha Rao's Girls Burn Brighter, and those who seek a narrative both compelling and necessary.

• ISBN10: 0778310205
• ISBN13: 9780778310204
• Publish Date: 3 March 2020
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Mira Books
• Edition: International ed.
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[layawaydragon]

>Made it 49%, Chapter Nine.
>I really liked it but it was too, too slow with not enough umph for me to finish when I have other books to review.
>Love the details about henna and Lakshmi's natural medical remedies, especially regarding women's health. I wish there was more about that and the dismissive doctor getting schooled by her. Might've finished it, if so.
>Lakshmi is amazing for striking out on her own and thriving like so. Mad respect. The politicking and balancing were interesting, but tedious over and over again.
>Radha is so understandable, especially her rage and chafing at the bit.
>Malik is adorable and so clever.

Quotes:
My ladies had changed nothing but the reasons for their pretense.


But these were flaws for a husband to discover, not for me to reveal.

Today, when she saw how unfairly Malik was being cast off, she reacted as she always had--like a defenseless animal.

Then, as always, I remembered his wife, Parvati, my other benefactor.

"You don't need thanks. You've got a driver."

"You know as well as I do men can't control themselves. It is up to women to stay out of their way. If your sister had been brought up properly, she might know that."

Like my ladies, the maharanis had devised their own rules of gamesmanship.

He ran ahead to put our belongings in the waiting rickshaw and I followed, amazed and a bit in awe of my little friend.