Daughters of the Pink City

A Historical Fiction Novel by Alka Joshi

217 days until release

Release date March 2, 2027

Length 352 pages

Pre-order from Amazon

Publisher Description

A richly woven coming-of-age novel about family secrets, rebellion, and the inheritance of women’s resilience.

Sixteen-year-old Deepa lives under the weight of her family’s expectations. After her mother’s sudden disappearance, she and her younger brother Avi are sent to live with their strict grandparents in Jaipur, where tradition rules and freedom feels out of reach.

Everything changes when Deepa discovers kathak, an ancient dance that offers her liberation, and a hint of her mother’s mysterious past. Secretly learning kathak from a courtesan, Deepa risks everything to pursue her passion, defying her family’s rules and rigid societal norms.

As she loses herself in dance, she uncovers long-buried family secrets—whispers of forbidden love, betrayal, and a legacy of resilience passed through generations of women. When her lessons are discovered, she must choose: the path laid out for her or the life—and art—that sets her soul on fire.

Set against colonial India, this is a story of art, rebellion, and the bond between mothers and daughters.

with Alka Joshi

“ 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. ”