Alka Joshi's "The Secret Keeper of Jaipur": An Enchanting Tale of Mystery and Adventure

Filicia: love this book!

United States on Nov 16, 2023

jas: Loved it finally finished will read your 3rd book alka joshi just a question what inspires you to write these books as they are magnificent

United Kingdom on Oct 17, 2023

Betsy N.: I enjoyed the Henna Artist and was excited to know there were two
follow up novels. I couldn't put The Secret Keeper of Jaipur down and
read it in a couple of days.

Australia on Oct 12, 2023

Amazon Customer: I read this book first and then will read the first and third book. The title grabbed me because my son in law's family is from Jaipur. I loved the fact that there's some Hindi thrown in to a very entertaining storyline. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and now have to read the others in the trilogy.

United States on Sep 20, 2023

B. J. Taylor: I loved “The Henna Artist” when it came out last year, and I loved its sequel just as much, or maybe even a bit more. As I began reading it, it soon felt like a family reunion. I had come home to visit again with Lakshmi and Malik and various friends, like Maharani Indira, Manu and Kanta Agarwal, and even Madho Singh.

Just as at all family reunions, I wanted to know what everyone had been up to. Lakshmi is now living in Shimla and is married to Dr. Kumar (I saw that one coming.) Malik, just as charming as ever, has finished school and met the widow Nimmi and her two children. But Lakshmi arranges for Malik to take an apprenticeship position back in Jaipur, thus leaving Nimmi in Shimla. Malik finds that not much has changed in Jaipur - it is still all about power and money and keeping secrets. Then a tragedy strikes, and Malik is caught in the middle of it. He must make some difficult decisions in his quest to uncover the truth as to what (and who) is responsible for the tragedy.

I really love how Joshi gives the reader a glance into the lives of the various levels of society, from sheepherders and servants to royalty and the upper echelons of society. I found...

United States on Aug 08, 2023

Beguiled By Books: Favorite Quote: Be humble for you are made of earth Be noble for you are made of stars.

Story Synopsis: The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, book two of Alka Joshi’s Jaipur Trilogy, continues the stories of Lakshmi, Malik, and the high society and royalty of Jaipur. Set in 1969, twelve years after the events in The Henna Artist, Joshi shows us a changing India and the growth and mistakes of those with societal power – and those without that power.

I found the first book, The Henna Artist, through Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club. I loved it and thought it was a great standalone novel. Imagine my delight when I discovered, quite randomly, that The Henna Artist was the first book of a not-fully released trilogy. I immediately pre-ordered The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, which arrived around the end of June. Joshi does a great job of keeping you engaged and exhilarated without overwhelming the plot or over-fictionalizing the story.

Thoughts & Feelings: I loved this book, not because I already connected to the intelligent and headstrong Lakshmi or clever and humble Malik, but because Joshi writes about human nature. The protagonists make mistakes, and the antagonists...

United States on Jul 21, 2023

Constant Reader: This book is the second in a trilogy set in India in 1969. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the Henna Artist which is the first book in the series. This book picks up 12 years after the Henna Artist, and it includes many of the same characters. You really should read the Henna Artist before you read this book, but it is a very good story so reading it will not be a hardship. After the 12-year gap, Malik is now a young man instead of a child, and his life has center stage. These are books that sweep you away into the pages and the stories. The author has done a wonderful job creating characters that you can care about. And, then she places them in a rich complex plot inside of a well-detailed setting. In these books, India is a land of great contrasts between nomadic shepherds and an incredibly privileged and powerful upper class and between rural Himalayan mountain passes and teeming great cities. All these elements are woven into the story. I won’t retell the plot here because it is better if you learn it as intended by the author. Bottom line: Very good. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and I will be looking forward to the final book in the trilogy.

United States on Nov 24, 2022

samriddhi w.samriddhi w.: "𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗵𝗲’𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲. 𝗛𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗲𝘆𝗲𝘀. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵.”

We follow the story of Lakshmi 10 years after the birth of her nephew and his adoption. But this time Alka Joshi heard our prayers and the story this time bounces between Lakshmi and Malik, the boy she had taken under her wing....

India on Jun 20, 2022

V JV J: Honestly, with all the hype around the first book, I was not too surprised to like it myself. But, I genuinely never expected for the second part to fare better than the first!

Although I am a generous reviewer, I only give five stars to stories which tend to linger long after I'm done with them. This is definitely one of those! I'm so gonna be lost in this perfectly imperfect world created by the author - for a really, really long time, if I may!

Unlike the first book - which was more descriptive of the setting, characters, environment, the art and the artists - this book is more progressive in terms of the plot and the turn of events. Also, loved to read the story from multiple POVs - which was again something different from the first book. Inevitably, I was engrossed from the get go.

There were a lot (most) of things I loved about it. But, I really have a few complaints - and, not with the author, but with the characters, lol. There are so many amazing Hindi proverbial (translated in English) exchanges in the story - it's amazing. But, what was really disappointing was that this was something personal between Samir and Lakshmi. Couldn't Lakshmi just find...

India on Oct 28, 2021

Livre_mondeLivre_monde: While it's important to see books in a series as an individual piece of work who share some characters and their pasts but have their own story, when one reads a sequel, it becomes inevitable to do the comparison. Sequel to The Henna Artist, this novel is as much different as it could be from its prequel. However, it continues to hold the strengths of The Henna Artist in terms of well-developed characters and story structure. In fact, the characters seemed to have matured and developed a lot in the sequel. I could clearly imagine Lakshmi as a strong, independent, and sophisticated woman. Malik, a playful, joyous yet very understanding and mature man. Jay Kumar, an understanding and caring husband to Lakshmi. Nimmi, a tribal woman with her insecurities, yet a strong-willed woman.

While The Secret Keeper of Jaipur continues the story with the same set of characters from The Henna Artist, with the addition of only a couple of new characters, the plot has a mix of conspiracy, favors, and politics. Much different than its prequel, this novel jumps 12 yrs in the future from where the story in The Henna Artist ended and brings forward a grown-up Malik who has graduated from Bishop...

India on Oct 13, 2021