Alka Joshi

It’s probably best to let my readers describe my historical novels:

“Sensory. Lush. Cinematic. Immersive.”

“Beautifully written and researched”

“Heartwarming and heartwrenching”

“Joshi transports her readers to India in different parts of its history”

“Beautifully weaves the themes of identity and belonging into the storyline”

“Masterful storytelling with characters who are rich and compelling”

From birth until the age of 9, I lived in 4 different cities in the state of Rajasthan, India, and the city of Chandigarh in Punjab. After we moved to America, I was focused on fitting into the American culture and left my birth country behind. But when I began taking my mother to India in my 50s, I rediscovered India through her eyes and fell in love with what I saw all over again. I loved describing the colors, the scents, the saris, the spices, the jewels, the cattle in the streets, the decorated elephants, the rickshaws and tongas, and the vibrant energy of the Indian people. That’s what propelled my sensory writing. And my mother’s and father’s lives, combined with the extensive research I conduct into India’s past, compels me to create stories that help readers around the world understand this ancient, complex, wise and wonderful land.

Voracious. Once we immigrated from India to the United States, reading was my way of understanding the Western culture, of traveling to distant lands, and feeling as if I wasn’t alone.

I’ve always wanted to write like Amy Tan’s THE JOY LUCK CLUB. Reading that inimitable novel was the first time I realized culture could be explained through fiction in a way that could make a reader unfamiliar with that culture change their perception of it. That’s what I hope to do with my novels of India and the Indian people: give readers a more comprehensive, well-rounded impression of the country and her people.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Min Jin Lee

Anthony Doerr

Claire Keegan

Ruth Prawar Jhabvala

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

The look and the essential character of Lakshmi in THE HENNA ARTIST is modeled after my mother, who made sure I could create a life independent of societal constraints like the traditional restrictions she had been subject to in India. She would have loved the agency I’ve had to make all my own life decisions. So when I started to write, I created a protagonist who is the spitting image of my mother but who flees her abusive marriage to establish a far more independent life than the one her patriarchal upbringing had allowed her. She blossoms!

That would be like asking which of my children is my fave! Can’t answer that :-) But I do think my stories are getting richer, more expansive and broader in scope with each book. I spend almost 10 years writing THE HENNA ARTIST and learning how to pull a novel together, take it apart, start all over again and revise, revise, revise. THE SECRET KEEPER OF JAIPUR, THE PERFUMIST OF PARIS and now SIX DAYS IN BOMBAY each only took two years to complete.

My bed has always been my favorite place to write. I prop plenty of pillows against the headboard. My laptop desk holds my MacBook. Coco the terrier sits at the end of the bed, usually napping. I always wear my Garnet Hill pajamas and get to work! However, it’s not the only place my story comes together. I also write in my head and talk to my characters while I drive long distances to events, while I walk in my neighborhood, and while I do my water walking in the community pool. I always have my iPhone voice memo handy so I can record thoughts as I’m moving.

Comes complete with lots of natural light, cushy pillows, Coco the terrier sits next to me, and a butler is always on hand to bring me my chai and samosas!