Alka Joshi

A NEW NOVEL BY THE AUTHOR OF THE HENNA ARTIST, A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK "Captivated me from the first chapter to the last page." --Reese Witherspoon on The Henna Artist In New York Times bestselling author Alka Joshi's intriguing new novel, henna artist Lakshmi arranges for her protégé, Malik, to intern at the Jaipur Palace in this tale rich in character, atmosphere, and lavish storytelling. It's the spring of 1969, and Lakshmi, now married to Dr. Jay Kumar, directs the Healing Garden in Shimla. Malik has finished his private school education. At twenty, he has just met a young woman named Nimmi when he leaveS to apprentice at the Facilities Office of the Jaipur Royal Palace. Their latest project: a state-of-the-art cinema. Malik soon finds that not much has changed as he navigates the Pink City of his childhood. Power and money still move seamlessly among the wealthy class, and favors flow from Jaipur's Royal Palace, but only if certain secrets remain buried. When the cinema's balcony tragically collapses on opening night, blame is placed where it is convenient. But Malik suspects something far darker and sets out to uncover the truth. As a former street child, he always knew to keep his own counsel; it's a lesson that will serve him as he untangles a web of lies.

A Novel

The Royal Jewel Cinema

Caroline

If you have read "The Henna Artist" by Alka Joshi and if you fell in love with Aunty bosses charming, obedient and faithful helper Malik, then "The secret keeper of Jaipur" is the book you should read next. 

Set in the backdrop of Shimla and Jaipur, the secret keeper of Jaipur revolves around 20 year old Malik, who leaves his life and love (which he finds in a girl named Nimma in shimla) to apprentice at the Facilities Office of the Jaipur Royal Palace. Their latest project: a state-of-the-art cinema. But when a balcony at the cinema collapses and the blame is directed towards manu, Malik along with Lakshmi is all set to uncover truth. 

The secret keeper of Jaipur is as well written as Alka Joshi The Henna Artist. Through this book, Alka Joshi has also highlighted the gold laws of India as well as how it was smuggled into the country at that time. The plot of the story is very easy to figure out, which makes it an easy read. The characters are all familiar except for Nimma (Malik's lady love) and her 2 children.

A book I recommend if you loved The Henna Artist.

Elizabeth Wood

A great sequel to The Henna Artist. I didn’t enjoy this one as much because the plot fell flat for me, but the characters are just as lovable. 💕

Cindy Lieberman

This sequel takes place about 10 years after the first book. The young street urchin that followed the Henna Artist around and became her assistant has now graduated school and university with a degree in architecture. The Henna Artist is married to the clinic doctor and is mentoring Minna, a young woman with two children who lost her husband and is separated from her tribe of hill people.as with the first book, we are immersed in a colorful story with colorful characters. I am looking forward to the third installment in 2023.

The Secret Keeper of Jaipur was one of my most anticipated sequels for 2021 after having read the first book in the series, The Henna Artist, early on in the year. Needless to say, Alka Joshi didn't disappoint as she brings forth a story brimming to the edge with hard-hitting questions of what makes a family and the revelations of internalized prejudices one may hold with class and social standing.

Set against the post-colonial India in early 1960s, we revisit Lakshmi and Malik, twelve years after the ending of THA, who now lead a quiet charmed life in the foothills of Himalayan Mountains at Shimla. Lakshmi has arranged for her protégée who now goes by Abbas Malik to intern with Manu Agrawal back in Jaipur, where work for the Royal Jewel Cinema is on the brink of completion, to learn the reins of business covering all fronts from construction to accounting. Malik finds himself in the throes of a mystery when the balcony for the theatre collapses during intermission, claiming two lives and leaving several wounded. The incident leaves a foul mark on the Palace's reputation who must find a man responsible for the construction as the scapegoat for pleasing public sentiments over the tragedy. However, Malik finds the situation to be amiss after discovering evidences of poor work done in the construction of the columns upholding the balcony in form of a decorative brick.

The stronger aspect of Alka Joshi's writing, for me, is the research that evidently goes into setting up the backdrops for her characters. I left the book with knowledge that no history book has ever taught me before - from the enlightening glimpse into the life of nomadic tribes to the callous ways gold was smuggled across the country for those willing to pay a hefty price after the Gold Act. Reading her books definitely serve to maintain a connection with a version of India that I have never been fortunate enough to witness or read about in the years that I've picked up reading. In addition to this, The Secret Keeper follows THA's footsteps in terms of rich descriptions filled with details of the surrounding, all the way down to the scent a place might have further allowing my own imagination to take flight and settle right at Mall Road of Shimla one minute and the chaotic beauty of Jaipur the next. The nostalgia and warmth I feel for the characters Alka has cultivated always takes me by surprise - so much so I am always rooting for them, smiling one minute at Lakshmi and her headstrongness and shaking my head when they act impulsive.


My only qualms for the books are definitely the characterization of Nimmi and the narrative decisions taken for The Secret Keeper. Coming to my first point, I couldn't find myself caring about Nimmi, whose POVs were sparse by the second half, or begin to understand why she was the way she was. What bothers me is that she's definitely supposed to be likeable, as is indicative by the prose, but the narrative doesn't her do any favors in terms of likeability every single time she lashed out at Lakshmi about Malik. This was to show us that their relationship was something that mattered a lot to Nimmi, having faced the loss of her husband and her tribe in her past and she was scared to lose Malik too - however, not enough narrative focus was given to their relationship which was wrapped up in a chapter and I didn't get why they even liked each other to actually care about Nimmi's fears. The justification we did get was that Malik liked strong women and that was that. 

In ties to my first point, I think we had too many POVs jumbling up the narrative and not allowing there to be a distinctive voice to each of them. At one point, I was reading Malik's POV and thought I was reading Lakshmi's up until the halfway point of the chapter. While I understand Alka's attachment to Lakshmi, a character shaped after her own mother, I do not understand why this book was marketed as Malik's story when Lakshmi felt like the main character at several points with her own POVs dominating that of Malik's by the end. This is a story which could have worked very well with Malik's as the main POV, interspersed sparsely with Lakshmi's, to give the returning reader a taste of the headstrong lady we've come to love all the while acquainting ourselves with a much older and wiser Malik. Perhaps, the story should have introduced us to Malik's life in Shimla first as opposed to meeting him in Jaipur which could have made the reader more invested in his journey. 

With that being said, I still think this book shines as one of the better written books I've read this year with a strong plot to hold it through the errs of narrative and characterization. I eagerly await the 3rd book in the series.

Archita Birla

Overall, I really enjoyed this! Alka Joshi is a wonderful storyteller with detailed descriptors that paint such a clear image. The Secret Keeper of Jaipur is a lovely companion piece to The Henna Artist, as it explores Malik and Lakshmi's life a few years after the original book. I really enjoyed the addition of new characters and liked seeing how the characters from The Henna Artist developed and changed over the course of time. I did, however, feel that the final conflict wrapped up kind of suddenly, and I would have loved seeing just a bit more exploration of it. 

4.5/5, would highly reccomend!

Mariya Tuchinskaya 

Alka Joshi does not disappoint with this book. I enjoyed being able to immerse myself into this story and getting to see familiar characters from The Henna Artist was so much fun. Malik was one of my favorite characters in The Henna Artist so I liked seeing his story take center stage in this book.

I loved that the author did not hesitate to tackle issues of nepotism and homophobia s well as the ideas of family and belonging in The Secret Keeper of Jaipur.

Although this is technically a sequel it can easily be read as a standalone book. Trust me when I tell you that if you haven't read The Henna Artist you will after reading this book.

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The Royal Jewel Cinema A Novel

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