After escaping from a toxic marriage, Lakshmi has become a successful henna artist with a growing client list and she’s building the house she’s dreamt of. Soon, her parents should accept her invite to move in and she can finally absolve herself of her past mistakes. All is going according to plan. But only until her estranged husband tracks her down, with a sister she had no idea about in tow. 

 

This story opened up a window to a different world—one of the many reasons I love reading so much. Joshi really brought the cultural aspects of 1950s India to life. I loved how consuming the world was; it made the city of Jaipur leap off the page. The lyrical prose and budding storyline had me wondering how Lakshmi would turn her life around. 

 

There was a beauty in the way Joshi handled difficult situations while maintaining the integrity of her characters. Watching the characters struggle, grow, and heal in their own ways was captivating and felt realistic. I read this as an audiobook, but wish I had snagged a copy from my library. I hear the hard copy has a helpful list of characters, terms, and information, as well as a wonderful history of henna and even a henna recipe in the acknowledgments! Going into this blind, I also wasn’t aware this was both a debut novel and the first book of a trilogy. What a lovely surprise.