A Book A Week

Last week I was reading "The Henna Artist" as I wrote in the previous post.  

A very nice novel by Alka Joshi. It was mentioned to me by a friend. I had to wait for the book from The Toronto public Library. I placed hold almost a month ago. 

I was ready to read another Grisham novel, when my hold on The Henna Artist became available. A lot of people are waiting to read this one.

The story takes place in 1950s. India started enjoying the freedom from British. People were not free from their own mind. 

A woman living without a husband in a big city and having a successful life of her own in that era? Girls were married off very early then. The rich educated their daughters to marry boys from rich families. 

The story captures us and compels to turn the pages. The author takes us to Jaipur and walks us through Lakshmi's life. The society forgive the men for infidelity. But, they will punish the woman for all of it. There are so many divisions for humans there: religion, sex, caste, money....  

Ms Joshi says the book is for her mom, the woman who got married at a young age and sacrificed her ambitions for higher education to be a traditional housewife. 

The novel is about Lakshmi, the henna artist, her struggles in Jaipur. I enjoyed reading it. What about you? 

Bindu