In September I want to read several books that have been on my TBR for a long, long time. Also, I want to read some books that are part of a series. One book that meets both requirements is The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi. This is the first book of the “Jaipur trilogy” and starts in 1955, after India got independent. Usually I’m a lover of historical fiction, but I still was a little hesitant for this one as I just couldn’t decide whether this would be a book for me or not. Anyway, I owned the ebook, so it was time to find out, wasn’t it?

About the book

• Title: The Henna Artist
• Author: Alka Joshi
• Series: The Jaipur Trilogy #1
• Publish date: March 3, 2020
• Publisher: Mira Books
• ISBN: 9780778310204
• Number of pages: 384
• Genre: Historical fiction

Lakshmi Shastri has spent years carving out a life for herself as a henna artist after fleeing her abusive husband and backward rural village for the Rajasthan capital. Well-versed in apothecary and the miraculous properties of herbs, her services (the effects of which are far more than just aesthetic) are highly sought after by upper-caste women, and Lakshmi’s success brings her within inches from her, and her country’s, ultimate goal: total independence. That is, until the past she has so desperately tried to run from comes knocking at her door…

My review

It took me so long to finally pick this book up because I barely saw any reviews and didn’t know what to expect. So therefore it happened that my mom finished it before me. When I picked it up, it felt like the right time for me. Why? It felt like an intriguing yet easy read and that was what I was seeking. I randomly picked this book when selecting the books I want to try to read this month and therefore I had no excuse to further postpone it. Well, my expectations were partially met.

This story is about Lakshmi. Fifteen years ago, she was married to a man by force. This man, Hari, ended up abusing her because Lakshmi wasn’t able to give him children. One day, she had the courage to flee her home and her village. Even though it means she had to leave her saas (mother-in-law) behind. She was close to her saas as she learnt a lot from her rgarding medicine. After a rough journey Lakshmi ends up in Jaipur where she sattles and establishes a life for herself as henna artist. Together with malik, whom she met on the outskirts of the city, she travels to all her clients in Jaipur’s high society. When Rada, the sister Lakshmi never heard off, suddenly appears her life is about to change drastically. Will Lakshmi be able to adjust to this new live and responsibilities or does she have to make some dificult choices?

I had some troubles with understanding Lakshmi. Yes, she’s a strong character who has her life mapped out for herself and really knows what she wants. However, she’s not just a henna artist. It occurs to me that she practised different professions al at once, without many knowledge. It felt like her being a henna artist was just a minor part of the story unfortunately. Because of this, Lakshmi felt lacking to me as a character. Somehow, Joshi didn’t succeed in giving her a threedementional personality. It was hard to feel sympathy for her, especially with some of the decisions she makes. She has a huge temper which often shows off. Rada on the other hand, is a young girl who lives mostly within a fantasy world. It was visible that Lakshmi was not prepared to take care of her. Also, she didn’t want to know her at first. In the end, both Lakshmi and Rada developed as characters, but I didn’t feel really connected.

Joshi’s writing is not extraordinary. I have the feeling that this happens often lately, that many books have just okay writing and there is not much difference to it. However, this book was an easy read and also easy to follow. I’m glad that a list of vocabulary was included in the back, because many Hindi words and phrases have been woven into the story. This made it feel authentic to me. Joshi is an Indian-American author who lived in India for 9 years before moving to the USA. The character of Lakshmi is based on her mother’s livestory and that shows. Joshi knows what’s she’s talking about. Also, the research into the Indian nature healing (is this even an English expression? Sorry my language skills let me down here) has been researched in depth and that shows as well. however, this book was still less intriguing than I was hoping for. Although very logic, all events were still quite predicitable. Especially the ending, I was not surprised at all.

The henna Artist by Alka Joshi is a historical fiction set in 1955 India. Lakshmi is a strong character, although she lacks depth for me. The writing is mediocre, but easy to follow and that was exactly what I was seeking in that moment. Unfortunately, the story itsself is less intriguing than I hoped it would be. For me, it felt like there is something missing and I don’t know what exactly. Despite that feeling, this still is a decent historical fiction novel. I’m not sure when I will continue this series though, I have the second book in my possession. There we follow Malik and he could be such an interesting character to follow.