A review by yellowbrickfly
The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi

emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

‘The Henna Artist’ traces the life of Lakshmi Shastri, a widowed healer and mehendi (henna) artist whose clientele include the aristocratic women of Jaipur. Set in early post-Independence India, Joshi carefully examines the problematic impact of caste, religion and gender on what individuals could do and dream. Waving the banner of independent, free and progressive, Jaipur’s elite propagate and further inequity - a situation all too familiar in present day India as well.

Joshi’s lyrical prose and the swift pace of the plot mirror Lakshmi’s calm and considered thought in the midst of chaos. Lakshmi has curated her personality so as to be palatable and non-threatening to the ladies she works with. By showing us her inner monologue and calculated caution, Joshi brings the reader into the experience of living within the suffocating societal constraints of Lakshmi’s world. She shows us the cost of striving for success without a privileged birthright. ‘The Henna Artist’ is also about an invisible network of women supporting each other. In a way, Joshi has imagined a utopia where patriarchal force has not distorted the clarity with which women see each other.

Lakshmi’s work is steeped in the ancient ayurvedic knowledge of care and wellbeing. Joshi treats ayurveda with appropriate respect - portraying it as valid and effective rather than just interesting and alternative. Belief in God, however, is not granted the same grace. While it might be just a characteristic of Lakshmi rather than the viewpoint of the whole book, religious faith is treated as something we grow out of. The notion is reminiscent of the colonial shame so characteristic of 1950s India. In a world where so much was reimagined without the cost of losing complexity, I wonder at the missed opportunity of shedding this colonial remnant as well.