Author: Alka Joshi
Rating: 4.5/5
Tags: Indian, Cultural, Fiction
I’ve had this on my to-read since 2021. The end-of-year holidays for 2022 allowed me to get to it finally. The Henna Artist is a thoroughly researched and emotionally provoking book. India has been increasingly thrust upon my mind, as a software engineer I’m very familiar with colleagues of Indian heritage due to their strides in STEM and the country is touted to be the next source of global economic growth. Also, I grew up with my mom regularly watching Bollywood movies and I’ve always known India to be a multicultural country with a rich history.
Alka Joshi takes us on a journey through Jaipur using the protagonist. She examines central themes of Indian society - caste and class(and this is truly applicable across all societies). Through the lens of the protagonist, we catch a glimpse of the struggles and strength of character needed to navigate the complex and sometimes unfair demands of society. A theme that stuck with me is the harmlessness of certain decisions and how we can get locked into situations that we never envisaged.
This telling was rich in culture and characters. Alka Joshi blends her familiarity with Indian society through her parentage and weaves a story so captivating you’d find it difficult to put this book down.
