--- product_id: 215875949 title: "The Henna Artist: A Reese's Book Club Pick – A NYT Bestselling Historical Fiction Story Set in India (The Jaipur Trilogy, 1)" brand: "alka joshi" price: "18685CFA" currency: XOF in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.sn/products/215875949-the-henna-artist-a-reeses-book-club-pick-a-nyt store_origin: SN region: Senegal --- # Reese's Book Club Pick NYT Bestseller #18,231 Rank 38,460+ 4.5★ Reviews The Henna Artist: A Reese's Book Club Pick – A NYT Bestselling Historical Fiction Story Set in India (The Jaipur Trilogy, 1) **Brand:** alka joshi **Price:** 18685CFA **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Summary > 📖 Unlock the secrets of 1950s Jaipur—where tradition meets rebellion in a bestselling saga! ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Henna Artist: A Reese's Book Club Pick – A NYT Bestselling Historical Fiction Story Set in India (The Jaipur Trilogy, 1) by alka joshi - **How much does it cost?** 18685CFA with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.sn](https://www.desertcart.sn/products/215875949-the-henna-artist-a-reeses-book-club-pick-a-nyt) ## Best For - alka joshi enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted alka joshi brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Key Features - • **Rich Cultural Insight:** Explore India’s caste system, herbal medicine, and social dynamics through a compelling narrative. - • **Award-Winning Storytelling:** Chosen by Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club, a mark of cultural cachet and literary excellence. - • **Immersive Historical Fiction:** Step into 1950s Jaipur with vivid, authentic settings that blend tradition and modernity. - • **Empowering Female Protagonist:** Follow Lakshmi’s fierce journey of independence and resilience in a patriarchal society. - • **Bestseller with Massive Acclaim:** Join over 38,000 readers who rated this novel 4.5 stars, making it a must-read conversation starter. ## Overview The Henna Artist is a New York Times bestselling historical fiction novel and Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick, set in 1950s Jaipur, India. It follows Lakshmi, a skilled henna artist and herbalist, as she escapes an abusive marriage to build an independent life among wealthy clients. The story offers a rich portrayal of cultural traditions, female empowerment, and social challenges, backed by over 38,000 glowing reviews and top rankings in cultural heritage and historical fiction. ## Description A NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB PICK "Captivated me from the first chapter to the final page."—Reese Witherspoon Vivid and compelling in its portrait of one woman’s struggle for fulfillment in a society pivoting between the traditional and the modern, The Henna Artist opens a door into a world that is at once lush and fascinating, stark and cruel. Escaping from an abusive marriage, seventeen-year-old Lakshmi makes her way alone to the vibrant 1950s pink city of Jaipur. There she becomes the most highly requested henna artist—and confidante—to the wealthy women of the upper class. But trusted with the secrets of the wealthy, she can never reveal her own… 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 high-spirited young girl in tow—a sister Lakshmi never knew she had. Suddenly the caution that she has carefully cultivated as protection is threatened. Still she perseveres, applying her talents and lifting up those that surround her as she does. “Eloquent and moving…Joshi masterfully balances a yearning for self-discovery with the need for familial love.”— Publishers Weekly Look for the complete Jaipur Trilogy: Book 1: The Henna Artist Book 2: The Secret Keeper of Jaipur Book 3: The Perfumist of Paris ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Book 1 Of 3 | The Jaipur Trilogy | | Dimensions | 5.98 x 0.96 x 8.86 inches | | Edition | First Time Trade | | Isbn 10 | 0778331474 | | Isbn 13 | 978-0778331476 | | Item Weight | 2.31 pounds | | Language | English | | Print Length | 400 pages | | Publication Date | April 6, 2021 | | Publisher | MIRA | ## Images ![The Henna Artist: A Reese's Book Club Pick – A NYT Bestselling Historical Fiction Story Set in India (The Jaipur Trilogy, 1) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81-p6SFCN6L.jpg) ## Available Options This product comes in different **Format** options. ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Henna Artist: Wonderful Read *by on Reviewed in the United States May 31, 2020* The Henna ArtistLakshmi, the narrator of this engaging and thoroughly enjoyable story, runs away from a forced and brutal marriage at age 15, to begin a new life in post-British1950’s India. Her skills, learned in her home village, eventually lead her to a respectable position as a henna artist painting her beautiful designs on the hands and feet of wealthy matron clients in Jaipur, a large city in the northwestern Indian state of Rajasthan. Lakshmi is also skilled in the ways of India’s traditional medicine, which she uses both for healing remedies and to free women from unwanted pregnancies. Radha, a younger sister she didn’t know she had, enters Lakshmi’s life after the death of their parents and their relationship develops in remarkably complex and telling ways.Lakshmi is a classic fictional character, a woman fiercely independent, conflicted with what is right and what is wrong, wringing herself out constantly in an effort to emerge better than she was the day before. To me, she is a powerful image of the human spirit down to its very core. How does such a woman deal with the men of her time that she meets up with along the way? Can Lakshmi resist the cultural patterns set for centuries establishing male-female/husband-wife relationships? Lakshmi is faced with these issues time and time again throughout the story. Her resolve and courage are tested with each encounter, for better or worse.Spiritualism in the 1950’s India and the forces balancing traditional and modern values are also replayed in the story time and time again, each with subtle variations on a theme. The caste system is interpreted by Ms. Joshi is a more gentle way than most accounts, especially lower castes, and many of the issues that faced India’s people during that period are not addressed. The partition of India and Pakistan and the troubles and prejudices that arose with the Muslim community who stayed behind in India after the partition are left untold, leaving the reader with a view of Joshi’s India that is perhaps more ideal than what history can reveal.But India portrayed by Ms. Joshi is indeed a wonderful place for a reader to find himself (I’m a male). Bursting with energy, insightful commentary on all manner of life and living. A remarkable display of the times and places that at once are unraveling and revealing themselves chapter by chapter (with interesting appendices on cultural and historical subjects to boot). It makes me want to get on the next flight from Newark Liberty to Jaipur and have my hands and feet painted by a henna artist.William Klein, PhDNew York, NYMay 30, 2020Rating Five Stars ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ An imagined story of life in 1950s India *by on Reviewed in the United States November 22, 2022* The Henna Artist is about a woman struggling for independence and voice. Lakshmi is the first-person storyteller who was an accomplished henna artist and herbalist. Her story takes place during the 1950s in India after the country had gained independence, but women were still property. It is not historical fiction but rather an imagined history. Lakshmi left her husband Hari since he beat her, primarily for not having children. Leaving her arranged marriage meant that she also left her family and hometown. She had to reinvent herself and establish contacts where she had lacked the network of relatives from her formative years.Lakshmi, meaning goddess of wealth, employed a young boy named Malik to help her obtain supplies and move her business around to her clients. Malik is an endearing character who matures as the plot develops and portrays to Lakshmi, whom he calls "Aunty Boss," how to use relationships to one's advantage without taking advantage of people. I loved how he interacted with clients, women of a higher class. Privileged women appreciated Lakshmi's talents in painting their hands, feet, and other body parts with artistic personalized henna designs. She also peddled herbal contraceptives; for that business, she had men who purchased her sachets for their mistresses. Additionally, Lakshmi provides fertility and abortion treatments. Her many wealthy clients provide enough income for a house but also put her in precarious predicaments.Complicating her life, Lakshmi discovers she has a thirteen-year-old sister that she hadn't known existed. Since she had fled her family in the disgrace of divorce, she had not known her mother had another child. Her sister Radha shows up courtesy of her estranged husband, and Lakshmi becomes the teenager's guardian and experiences all the angst and responsibility that raising an adolescent brings. Her Life becomes even more entangled and complex as she endeavors to continue her business and try her hand at matchmaking. Though the story is sometimes unrealistic, this talented author delves into bloodlines, power and powerlessness, and caste. There are also poignant running themes about reputation and gossip. Then there is much related to ambition, skill, responsibility, betrayal, and moral grounds. This author is a great storyteller; she made her characters come alive and created a page-turner with this novel. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ When Traditions Tried To Bind, She Designed Her Escape! *by on Reviewed in the United States January 23, 2026* The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi unfolds like a palm slowly opening—revealing lines of fate, pain, resilience, and hard-won freedom. It delicately unravels the fine, almost invisible threads that hold a woman’s life together in a world determined to tug them apart.Set in a society where women are raised to lean on men for survival, Joshi gives us a protagonist who dares to stand alone—and in doing so, walks on fragile ground. Her reputation is as easily smudged as fresh henna, and gossip trails her relentlessly, clinging like a second shadow. Forced into marriage at fifteen, stripped of choice and voice, she learns early that survival in an abusive, male-dominated world is not about comfort but endurance.More than a single woman’s story, this novel becomes a chorus. It lends its voice to countless women forced into child marriages, trapped in suffocating caste hierarchies, and ensnared by the calculated charm and trickery of exploitative men. Joshi exposes how power disguises itself as protection, how tradition is often weaponized, and how women are expected to bear the consequences in silence.As a henna artist myself, her struggles resonated with me deeply. Time may move forward, but minds often lag behind. A woman’s standing in society remains perilously delicate—one wrong turn, one whispered rumor, and everything she has built can fracture.Yet what makes this story luminous is not just suffering, but dignity. Despite obstacles in work, family, and love, she moves forward with grace and fierce self-respect—head held high, hands steady. She heals and soothes not only with her words, but through her presence—offering a shoulder to lean on, an attentive ear to women burdened with unspoken griefs. Through her art, henna becomes a language of care, Ayurvedic remedies a form of quiet restoration, and even her ingenious practice of hiding healing herbs in sweets and savories turns nourishment into comfort. Her creativity becomes both shield and sanctuary.The Henna Artist is a testament to feminine resilience, to art as survival, and to the quiet power of women who refuse to disappear. It lingers like the deep stain of henna—dark, beautiful, and impossible to erase. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.sn/products/215875949-the-henna-artist-a-reeses-book-club-pick-a-nyt](https://www.desertcart.sn/products/215875949-the-henna-artist-a-reeses-book-club-pick-a-nyt) --- *Product available on Desertcart Senegal* *Store origin: SN* *Last updated: 2026-08-25*