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“Vibrant characters, evocative imagery, and sumptuous prose create an unforgetable tale.”
- Christian Science Monitor
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“Rich in detail and bright with tastes and textures.”
- BookPage (starred review)
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“A bewitching glimpse into the past with a tough heroine well worth cheering on.”
- Booklist
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“Moving.. Joshi masterfully balances a yearning for self-discovery with the need for familial love.”
- Publishers Weekly
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“Like a brilliant, magical kaleidoscope, bursting with color…The Henna Artist kept me riveted from start to finish.”
- Lauren Belfer, author of And After the Fire
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“The Henna Artist is a bold, ambitious, beautifully written novel about India in the decade after independence, and about class, identity, love, and deceit. The broad cast of characters will etch themselves in your psyche.”
- Tom Barbash, author of Stay Up with Me
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“Alka Joshi’s superb first novel is unforgettable…Read this book slowly and savor it: Every page is rich with intricate pleasures for the mind and the heart.”
- Anita Amirrezvani, author of The Blood of Flowers
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“Everything a great novel needs: The protagonist balancing impossible burdens with her bountiful talents. The many other characters, each so colorful and complex, each necessary to the intricate and delicate plot. Such a satisfying novel!”
- Sandra Scofield, author of The Last Draft: A Novelist’s Guide to Revision
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“Alka Joshi’s debut novel is a richly drawn design of love and the many hungers that drive human beings…A lush, gorgeous journey that any reader will be sorry to see end.”
- Erin McGraw, author of The Good Life