by Alka Joshi
First published 2020
Lakshmi flees her abusive husband at seventeen and travels from her rural village to Jaipur in 1950s India. She builds a new identity as a henna artist serving wealthy women, becoming their trusted confidante while hiding her own past. Her carefully constructed life depends on keeping her secrets buried. Meanwhile, Susan Green lives by rigid control and mathematical precision. When her mother dies and she discovers her unexpected pregnancy, her orderly world crumbles. Susan faces her worst nightmare as chaos takes over her life. She must learn to embrace uncertainty and vulnerability if she wants to find genuine love and self-acceptance. Both women confront the choice between the safety of their guarded lives and the risk of opening themselves to connection and healing.
Genres: domestic-fiction, abuse, 20th-century, contemporary, adult-fiction, biographical-fiction, 21st-century, asian-american
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, secrets
Setting: India, Jaipur
Period: 1950s
552 pages · Kindle Edition · MIRA
Content warnings: abuse, domestic-violence