Alka Joshi - The Henna Artist

CapRadio Reads

Lakshmi is The Henna Artist, a 30-year-old woman who escapes an abusive, arranged marriage and builds a career working with the city’s elite circle. She doesn’t know she has a younger sister until the 13-year-old shows up on her doorstep … accompanied by Lakshmi’s estranged husband.

This tale is rich in culture and tradition. Readers will appreciate the accounts of family, of compassion, of herbal healing, of negotiation. We witness Lakshmi’s evolution as a business woman. Every character in the book goes through some degree of transition, often an arc of redemption.

Alka Joshi is an overnight success 10 years in the making. “The Henna Artist” is her debut novel, which was part of her work toward an MFA in creative writing. It quickly became a book club favorite with a contract for an episodic TV series. Within a year of publication, Joshi wrote the sequel – and this story is ripe for a couple of sequels.