The Secret Keeper of Jaipur

The Secret Keeper of Jaipur is book two in the Jaipur trilogy by Alka Joshi. The trilogy began with The Henna Artist. The action in this story begins in Spring 1969 with heroine Lakshmi, now married to Dr.Jay Kumar, directing the Healing Garden of Shimla. Her protege Malik has just finished his private school education and at age 20 he has also just met a young mother named Nimmi and has fallen in love with her. When Malik travels to Jaipur to be an apprentice at the Facilities Office of the Jaipur Royal Palace in order to work on a state of the art cinema, he must separate from Nimmi. Malik soon finds that not much has changed in Jaipur since his last visit during his childhood. Power and money still hold sway and favors flow from the Palace, but only if certain secrets remain buried. When the cinema's balcony collapses on opening night, blame is placed where it is convenient. Malik, however, suspects something far darker is hovering over the city and sets out to uncover the truth. 

I LOVED this book!  In my mind, you can't get a better book than an Indian fiction novel. Malik is featured more prominently than Lakshmi in this installment of the trilogy. It's not that Lakshmi doesn't get a good amount of pages, it's just that Malik is the person solving the crime in the story. Of course, I loved everything about the Shimla and Jaipur settings. These two cities are complete opposites. Shimla is in the mountains and the weather is cool most of the time. Jaipur instead is excruciatingly hot. Wherever the characters are located, the reader is treated to the Indian culture. While I am sure that poor Indians who had labor intensive jobs were not as thrilled with their lot as the wealthy folks, I have romanticized this servant/master relationship. It seems dreamy to have someone always available to get you a cool drink or cook a meal when you come home. Most writers of Indian fiction show the servants as happy and agreeable but I know this must be a fallacy. 

We learn alot about the Nimma character. When she is introduced to Lakshmi she is described as having dark skin with rough hands and wearing cheap clothing. Nimma hails from a tribe that roams the mountains shepherding sheep. The women in the tribe had other duties and Nimma's was to gather flowers and herbs for healing. While her personality is quite different from Lakshmi, both women look for flowers and shrubs that can be used in healing. Lakshmi knows more about the flowers that she can find in the Jaipur area and Nimma knows more about those that can be found in the mountains. They make an ideal pair for Lakshmi's healing garden. 

Much is written about family here. Malik has no idea who his parents are or even when he was born. He was a street child who did odd jobs for Lakshmi before she brought him in to her home and raised him. He has no biological family to speak of. Lakshmi only has one sister whom she also raised but Radha has moved to Paris. Nimma is a widow with two kids. Emphasis is placed in the story on finding friends who become a substitute for family. These ties are bound just as tight as to those whom you are biologically related.

The Secret Keeper of Jaipur is a fantastic read. Historical fiction fans are going to want to read it. 5 out of 5 stars.