The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi

Trusted with the secrets of the wealthy, she can never reveal her own... Escaping from an abusive marriage, seventeen-year-old Lakshmi makes her way alone from her 1950s rural village to the pink city of Jaipur. There she becomes the henna artist-and confidante-most in demand to women of the upper class. 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 young girl in tow-a sister Lakshmi never knew she had. Suddenly the caution that she has carefully cultivated as protection is threatened. Vivid and compelling in its portrait of one woman's struggle for fulfillment in society, The Henna Artist opens a door into a world that is at once fascinating, stark and cruel.

Beautiful and heartbreaking! But it also taught me so much about Henna symbolism, herbal medicine, castes, and Rajasthan. Love this book.

“If I had learned anything from them, it was that only a fool lives in water and remains an enemy of the crocodile.”

Lakshmi and Radha are sisters, one older and a well-established henna artist in Jaipur, the other much younger and in need of a home after their parents passed away. Big city Lakshmi takes country girl Radha under her wing, but the two of them are stubborn and clash more than they act as sisters. Radha stumbles her way into rich family drama, and the two have to overcome differences in upbringing and strong personalities to make peace between them.

I had such high hopes for this book in the first half! The detail is rich, the characters interesting, and the idea of following a henna painter around the rich families of Jaipur was super intriguing. Lakshmi had built quite a following amongst the elite of Jaipur, and I was interested in reading about family drama or caste problems or something of that nature. The author delivered in spades initially!

Where it ended up losing me a bit was the focus on Radha and (SPOILERS HERE) getting pregnant and the emphasis on baby drama in the last half. I thought the story of the sisters was a great one, I just wish there had been another way to insert drama between them than the way chosen by the author. I've got nothing against it, I just can't relate.

Still, the detail and writing style were both fantastic, and it was a fun read regardless.