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The Henna Artist: A Novel (The Jaipur Trilogy, 1)

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The Henna Artist: A Reese's Book Club Pick (The Jaipur Trilogy 1) Kindle Edition

by Alka Joshi (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.5 31,235 ratings

Book 1 of 3: The Jaipur Trilogy

Goodreads Choice Award nominee

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A NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER

A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB PICK

"Captivated me from the first chapter to the final page."—Reese Witherspoon

Vivid and compelling in its portrait of one woman’s struggle for fulfillment in a society pivoting between the traditional and the modern, The Henna Artist opens a door into a world that is at once lush and fascinating, stark and cruel.

Escaping from an abusive marriage, seventeen-year-old Lakshmi makes her way alone to the vibrant 1950s pink city of Jaipur. There she becomes the most highly requested henna artist—and confidante—to the wealthy women of the upper class. But trusted with the secrets of the wealthy, she can never reveal her own…

Known for her original designs and sage advice, Lakshmi must tread carefully to avoid the jealous gossips who could ruin her reputation and her livelihood. As she pursues her dream of an independent life, she is startled one day when she is confronted by her husband, who has tracked her down these many years later with a high-spirited young girl in tow—a sister Lakshmi never knew she had. Suddenly the caution that she has carefully cultivated as protection is threatened. Still she perseveres, applying her talents and lifting up those that surround her as she does.

“Eloquent and moving…Joshi masterfully balances a yearning for self-discovery with the need for familial love.”—Publishers Weekly

Look for The Secret Keeper of Jaipur and The Perfumist of Paris from New York Times bestselling author Alka Joshi!

From the Publisher

The Henna Artist A Reese's Book Club Pick!

“Captivated me from the first chapter to the final page.” — Reese Witherspoon on The Henna Artist

“The final chapter in a saga of love , family and secrets” THE PERFUMIST OF PARIS

From New York Times bestselling author Alka Joshi


	The Henna Artist	The Secret Keeper of Jaipur	The Perfumist of Paris
	See Details	See Details	See Details
Customer Reviews	31,235	11,184	5,332
Price	$10.49	$10.99	$14.99
The Jaipur Trilogy by Alka Joshi	Book 1	Book 2	Book 3

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Rich in detail and bright with tastes and textures, The Henna Artist is a fabulous glimpse into Indian culture of the 1950s.”—Bookpage, Starred Review

“Vibrant characters, evocative imagery, and sumptuous prose create a satisfying, unforgettable tale.”—Christian Science Monitor

“Joshi has constructed a bewitching glimpse into the past with a tough heroine well worth cheering on.”—Booklist

“Eloquent debut…moving… Joshi masterfully balances a yearning for self-discovery with the need for familial love.” –Publishers Weekly

“Romantic, old-time Rajasthan leaps to life in the skilled hands of Alka Joshi. The Henna Artist brims over with richly drawn customs, locations, and characters. I can hardly wait for Alka Joshi’s next masterpiece.”
--Sujata Massey, internationally bestselling author of The Satapur Moonstone and The Widows of Malabar Hill

"A bold, ambitious, beautifully written novel about India…and about class, identity, love and deceit. The broad cast of characters will etch themselves into your psyche." --Tom Barbash, author of Stay Up With Me

"Fantastic, so evocative and beautiful and full of life and light.... The Henna Artist is detailed and sumptuous, vivid in its characters and deeply satisfying in its storytelling."--Leah Franqui, author of America for Beginners

"Alka Joshi's superb first novel is unforgettable.... Read this book slowly and savor it: Every page is rich with intricate pleasures for both the mind and the heart."--Anita Amirrezvani, author of The Blood of Flowers

"Like a brilliant, magical kaleidoscope, bursting with color, The Henna Artist kept me riveted from start to finish."--Lauren Belfer, NYT bestselling author of After the Fire and City of Light

"Everything a great novel needs is here: The protagonist balancing impossible burdens with her bountiful talents; the many other characters, each so colorful and complex, each necessary to the intricate and delicate plot, Such a satisfying novel!" --Sandra Scofield, author of The Last Draft

"Alka Joshi's debut novel is a richly drawn design of love and the many hungers that drive human beings...a lush, gorgeous journey that any reader will be sorry to see end."--Erin McGraw, author of The Good Life and The Seamstress of Hollywood

"The Henna Artist is a delicious, old-fashioned tale about timeless heartaches. There's something elemental and mythic about Lakshmi and her knowledge of spices, roots, oils, and barks that drew me in… I'm in awe of Joshi's storytelling.”---Laura McNeal, author of The Practice House

About the Author

Alka Joshi is a graduate of Stanford University and received her MFA from the California College of the Arts. She has worked as an advertising copywriter, a marketing consultant, and an illustrator. Alka was born in India, in the state of Rajasthan. Her family came to the United States when she was nine, and she now lives on California's Monterey Peninsula with her husband and two misbehaving pups. The Henna Artist is her first novel.

Sneha Mathan spent a peripatetic childhood in India, punctuated by a short spell in the Seychelles. Now fixedly based in Seattle, she works as a voice actor and audiobook narrator. Her audiobook work has received four Earphones Awards, and she is a two-time finalist for the Audie Award.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07R5YVHL9
Publisher ‏ : ‎ MIRA; Original edition (March 3, 2020)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 3, 2020
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 2106 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 370 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #16,067 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #5 in Historical Asian Fiction
- #77 in U.S. Historical Fiction
- #202 in Women's Historical Fiction

Customer Reviews:
4.5 31,235 ratings

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Alka Joshi

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Alka Joshi is the internationally bestselling author of the Jaipur Trilogy, which includes The Henna Artist, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur and The Perfumist of Paris. Her debut novel, The Henna Artist, was a New York Times Bestseller, a Reese Witherspoon Bookclub Pick, an LA Times Bestseller, a Toronto Star Bestseller, a Cosmopolitan Best Audiobook, and an Amazon favorite. It was Longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and has been translated into 29 languages. It’s currently in development at Netflix as an episodic series. In 2023, Forbes selected Alka as one of 50 Women Over 50 who are shattering age and gender norms across cultures. Alka was born in India and came to the U.S. with her family at the age of nine. She has a BA from Stanford University and an MFA from California College of Arts.

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Amazon Customer

A great read!

Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2024

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I found this to be easy reading but multilayered and gripping. Great characters of which India itself is one.

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LindaL

An imagined story of life in 1950s India

Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2022

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The Henna Artist is about a woman struggling for independence and voice. Lakshmi is the first-person storyteller who was an accomplished henna artist and herbalist. Her story takes place during the 1950s in India after the country had gained independence, but women were still property. It is not historical fiction but rather an imagined history. Lakshmi left her husband Hari since he beat her, primarily for not having children. Leaving her arranged marriage meant that she also left her family and hometown. She had to reinvent herself and establish contacts where she had lacked the network of relatives from her formative years.

Lakshmi, meaning goddess of wealth, employed a young boy named Malik to help her obtain supplies and move her business around to her clients. Malik is an endearing character who matures as the plot develops and portrays to Lakshmi, whom he calls "Aunty Boss," how to use relationships to one's advantage without taking advantage of people. I loved how he interacted with clients, women of a higher class. Privileged women appreciated Lakshmi's talents in painting their hands, feet, and other body parts with artistic personalized henna designs. She also peddled herbal contraceptives; for that business, she had men who purchased her sachets for their mistresses. Additionally, Lakshmi provides fertility and abortion treatments. Her many wealthy clients provide enough income for a house but also put her in precarious predicaments.

Complicating her life, Lakshmi discovers she has a thirteen-year-old sister that she hadn't known existed. Since she had fled her family in the disgrace of divorce, she had not known her mother had another child. Her sister Radha shows up courtesy of her estranged husband, and Lakshmi becomes the teenager's guardian and experiences all the angst and responsibility that raising an adolescent brings. Her Life becomes even more entangled and complex as she endeavors to continue her business and try her hand at matchmaking. Though the story is sometimes unrealistic, this talented author delves into bloodlines, power and powerlessness, and caste. There are also poignant running themes about reputation and gossip. Then there is much related to ambition, skill, responsibility, betrayal, and moral grounds. This author is a great storyteller; she made her characters come alive and created a page-turner with this novel.

23 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Caste is Destiny: Enlightening and moving

Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2023

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An immersion into the life, the suffering, the beliefs and the intricacies of the ways that women of different castes, although always in disadvantage and oppression, had to take to secure their social and financial status survival in the male dominated Indian culture of the 1950’s.
Easy and entertaining to read and yet very moving by the brutal contrasts between the rich and the poor, the powerful and the oppressed, men and women. Filled with tastes, colors, sounds, traditions, rituals and cultural beliefs !

One person found this helpful

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Kamaka

You won’t put it down,

Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2024

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Loved this book, I read it in 3 days and could hardly put it down, Great colorful characters and a plot that pulls you in! This story really shows how woman struggled in this Indian culture and how one woman made her way to the other side! A great read for book clubs,

One person found this helpful

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Dinah Fischer

Good read

Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2024

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I enjoy stories that take place in India and about strong women, this book doesn’t disappoint

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CJ

The Henna artist : a book difficult to put down.

Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2024

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I found the book easy to read and thought provoking. Descriptions were amazing.

Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2024

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I don't claim to be a "genuine" book reviewer. All I can do is share with you the things I did like about this novel. I love learning about other cultures without it sounding like a tourist guide. What could be more fun than learning about henna artists/artistry? This novel did not disappoint. Can't wait to read number 2.

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JerrTann

Great character building, yet ...

Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2021

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I got this book originally because I had had a good experience with another author from India and also because I follow interests in Indian classical music (ragas), dance and the complex of Indian cultures in general.
From the very first pages of "The Henna Artist" the author Alka Joshi created a highly believable lead character, Lakshmi Shastri of the title, significant for her struggles to stand on her own feet and make her own way. She is joined by her young sister, Rahda, who has found her way to her after their parents' deaths. They strive to make a life together, no easy task. This is where the interest of the story line is strongest. And this is where author Joshi loses my belief.
I won't divulge any of the plot so as not to potentially spoil the read for others. I will just say at the climax of the story Lakshmi impulsively does something I found to be a complete betrayal of the character. As I had come to understand Lakshmi she would never have succumbed to temptation and would have discretely avoided the situation. The action weakened her character for me, never regaining the same stature. For this I would have docked one star. The second star was for Radha. Her deep-seated conflicts were resolved much too swiftly, again causing my disbelief.
So there you are. I regret so much feeling the need to downgrade this book for which I held high hopes. Yet I felt in truth I must do so. Still, there is much of merit here for the casual reader-colorful characters, rich cultural setting, foreign words that have found their way into the English language.

10 people found this helpful

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Yashini Naidoo

Couldn’t put it down!!

Reviewed in Spain on March 3, 2024

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What a great read!! Loved it from start to finish!

Felicia

Simply phenomenal 👌

Reviewed in Canada on May 25, 2020

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✨Book Review✨

Let's start with wow. Alka Joshi's debut novel is one that will keep you captivated and entranced from the very first page. I can definitely see what all the hype is about, and I match @reesesbookclub appreciation for this masterpiece.

The Henna Artist is a brilliant story story about a henna artist living in Jaipur, India during the post-independence era. In Lakshmi's hometown, she is known for bringing shame to her family after abandoning her husband 13 years prior. In Jaipur, she is known for her intricate, unique henna designs. She caters to the elite, but her ambition knows no bounds. Her talents extend beyond henna, but this secret is known by few. However, her world is turned upside down when her estranged husband shows up with a 13 year old girl in tow, claiming to be Lakshmi's sister. Lakshmi must teach her sister many lessons to help her fit in, but she also has a lot to learn in order to truly be happy.

I only have compliments for this incredible read. Joshi transports the reader into this world from the first page. I felt so connected to the story that when my sister complained about her sore feet, I rushed to the bathroom to find my magnolia oil. Of course, I don't have magnolia oil, but while reading this novel, I felt like everything was right in front of me. Her characters are just beautiful. I thought of Lakshmi as my friend. I applauded her success at every turn, I felt her indignation, anger, and betrayal down to my core. I went from hating characters, to feeling intense empathy for them. I surprised myself at how deeply I felt each emotion throughout this novel.

I can't promise that you will love it as much as I did, but I can assure you that you will go on an incredible journey.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

13 people found this helpful

Namita

One of the most refined and well structured book. A must read!

Reviewed in India on December 15, 2020

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An elegantly written storyline, sophisticatedly developed characters, and of course the rich culture from the India of 1950s. Doesn’t it sound like a perfect mood?

Well, I am talking about Alka Joshi’s novel, “The Henna Artist” which recently bagged its position under the top ten in Goodreads choice awards under the categories, best debut novel, and best historical fiction. Needless to say, this novel deserves every bit of it and I can positively say that this was one of my ultimate pleasurable read of 2020.

This is the story of Lakshmi, the henna artist. She was forced to get married at the age of fifteen. There she learned about natural medications and herbs for treating people from her mother-in-law. Although, at the age of seventeen, Lakshmi ran from her husband’s house and escaped from an abusive relationship. Gradually she settled in Jaipur city and started to work as a Henna artist. It took lots of sleepless nights and tons of hard work to build her reputation among all her royal clients and to save penny by penny for building her own house. Lakshmi was passionately dedicated towards being independent and improving her future that is when she was introduced to Radha, a sister Lakshmi was never aware of. It took some time for Lakshmi to completely accept Radha and to break the ice with her sister, the only family she had. Days passed by and Lakshmi’s fight for independence, success, respect, and dignity continued.

Whatever I said above is like a drop in the Ocean. ‘The Henna Artist’ is a book that can be really difficult to compile or cut short because of the finest precision by which Alka has crafted it. I have not read any book so far that is planned and presented with utmost perfection. The structure of the book is designed considering readers from all over the world in mind. The book starts with a list of all the characters that will appear in the story further so that if you lose track of it, you have your backup ready. After this, there is a crisp prologue that will build the required suspense and will grab all your attention. As soon as you finish reading the story there is a list of terms used in the local language with their meaning. This can be really helpful for people who are not aware of our Indian culture and looking forward to exploring it in its originality. The best thing here was that these terms were written in italics in the story so that the readers can immediately identify them from the story and look for them in the ‘Glossary of Terms’. The bonus point here is that the readers will get to know a little bit about the history of Henna and the recipe to prepare the henna paste along with other delicacies that were frequently talked about in the book.

I just loved every bit of this book and my reading experience was majestic. The character development of the main characters as well as the relevant secondary characters was done amazingly. No doubt there were a lot of characters but not for once did I lose track of them. I enjoyed knowing all the characters, some were delicate, some vulnerable, some mature, and some were just being the stubborn teenagers. I always say that one can learn a lot from fictional stories and if one wants to explore India and its culture in the unaltered form this book is a must-read.

2 people found this helpful

Cliente Amazon

Meravigliosa storia!!!

Reviewed in Italy on October 20, 2020

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Non ho avuto nessun problema con la versione kindle in inglese. La storia è fantastica!!! Piena di tanti dettagli di un'altra cultura che mi sentivo di stare in un lungo viaggio e ho imparato tantissimo nel frattempo. Questo libro è diventato decisamente uno dei miei preferiti. Attendo con ansia la continuazione di questa storia! Consigliatissimo per chi ama viaggiare e conoscere altre culture!!

One person found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

A little trip to India

Reviewed in Germany on August 18, 2020

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The Henna Artist took me on a trip to the India of 1956. Excellent debut novel. I warmly recommend this novel to everyone who wants to know more about Indian traditions.

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The Henna Artist: A Reese's Book Club Pick (The Jaipur Trilogy 1) Kindle Edition

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The Henna Artist: A Novel (The Jaipur Trilogy, 1)

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