Genre : Mystery Thriller | Author : Alka Joshi (June 2021) | Running Time : 11 hrs and 8 mins

Narrators: Sneha Mathan, Ariyan Kassam and Deepa Samuel

Good morning beautiful people ! How is your weekend looking? For more than a week now we have been waking up to a thick fog and bitter weather. The fog lifts mid afternoon only to be back with vengeance by sunset.

Yesterday though, we had a good day weatherwise. On my morning walk with Ginger, I managed just fine without any warmers. The other days, despite the layers, nothing but hot hand (toe and hand warmers) kept me warm as we walked down our regular path.

It is during the walks, that I have been catching up on The Secret Keeper of Jaipur by Alka Joshi as narrated by Sneha Mathan, Ariyan Kassam and Deepa Samuel .

The Secret Keeper of Jaipur.

Alka Joshi‘s The Secret Keeper of Jaipur is a follow-up to her New York Times bestselling debut The Henna Artist.

Now, I have already dropped a mention or two about The Henna Artist in my previous posts . I can’t begin to tell you how much I enjoyed listening to that story. The story of 1950s independent India in which Lakshmi the henna artists predetermined plans to success get sidetracked after the arrival of her sister Radha.

After the The Henna Artist, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on her new book. More than a month’s waitlist later, it was finally my turn to borrow this one from our local library.

Alka Joshi‘s magnificent writing and narrative style seamlessly carries forward the characters from previous book in this story.

As the story alternated between Lakshmi, Malik and Nimmi, her words transported me from snowy mountains of Shimla to the sultry chaotic Jaipur in an instant.

The Story

The book starts in 1969, 12 years later from where we left Lakshmi, giving us glimpse into lives of the characters and what they have been doing since then. This story presents a different view of India than the The Henna Artist.

In The Secret Keeper of Jaipur we see a India of gold smuggling, of corruption and of privilege as we move back and forth between Shimla and Jaipur.

It’s a story about family, loyalty, and new beginnings.The story focuses on Malik, the young 8 year old boy who’d tag along with his aunty boss as she applied henna in the hands of the affluent Jaipur ladies in The Henna Artist.

Malik is now 20 and has turned into a smart polished young lad, a former Bishop Cottonian who is currently apprenticing with Manu. He is learning the trade of construction when he gets involved in the prestigious Royal Jewel of Cinema project. His love interest, Nimmi , a young tribal widow with two young children is a rebellious and independent woman just like his aunty boss.

Sameer, though underplayed in this book is another character that I have come to like.

As the plot thickens, Lakshmi and Malik’s loyalties are put to test. Will they come out of this unscathed or will Lakshmi have to, yet again make a sacrifice?

My take

I absolutely adored the character Lakshmi in the first book, a strong, independent, resilient woman and her journey in the 1950s India, a India trying to find a balance between modern and traditional ways. I was very happy to see the focus hadn’t completely moved away from her in this book. She is a strong character, the one that ties the other characters together.

Sneha Mathan as Lakshmi is a delight to listen to. I enjoyed the other characters too and their seamless transformations as the story carried forward in this book .

Just when I found my interest waning it was Alka’s brilliant writing lush with intricate details that brought me back to finishing this book . I wasn’t disappointed at all ! The ending has Lakshmi and Malik working together . My favorite relationship in the two books so far.

The story of The Secret Keeper of Jaipur however failed to excite me as much as the first book .

Her first book kept me hooked on to the story till the end. I just couldn’t relate to Nimmi’s bitterness for Lakshmi.

The Secret Keeper of Jaipur was a fun read just not something I would go back to again or talk about as much.

What disappointed me is the pronunciation of basic hindi words by the readers Ariyan Kassam and Deepa Samuel. Chandigarh, Parathas, Ek (1) and many more. The is story is set in India. The least one would expect is close to correct pronunciation of common words.

I guess,if I had read the book instead I would have enjoyed it a bit more!

The words sounded as though my V was saying them aloud in her American accent 😛. The “R’s” are rolled , the “gh” sounds like “g”, Chandigarh is Chaandhigarrrr.

Will I read book 3 in this trilogy ? Absolutely 😂, despite the story lagging in places, the characters are still my favorite. I am hoping to see Radha return in the third one and then there is Lakshmi. I’ll read it just for the characters and how they develop in later years.

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Have a fun weekend wherever you are. Leaving you with this beautiful quote. Sayonara

 “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”– Winston Churchill