Storyline
The Secret Keeper of Jaipur picks up twelve years after The Henna Artist. Lakshmi, the former henna artist is now married to Dr Jay Kumar, the physician at Lady Bradley Hospital in Shimla. She is now the director of Lady Bradley Healing Garden. Malik, her former assistant is now a 20-year-old educated man, who on Lakshmi's request has joined the Facilities Department of the royal palace in Jaipur under the mentorship of Manu Agarwal. The drama unfolds when the balcony of the most ambitious and newly constructed Royal Jewel Theatre crashes. The blame falls on the shoulders of Manu Agarwal. When Malik finds some discrepancies in the construction material billing, he begins to question the scrupulousness of Ravi Singh, the architect of the theatre. The rest of the story is in flashback about all the events leading to the day of the crash. The story also revolves around Malik and Nimmi's love. Nimmi is a young widow from the hills. She blames Lakshmi for sending away Malik to Jaipur. After her initial mistrust of Lakshmi, she slowly warms up to her when she witnesses Lakshmi's kindness. When the tragedy strikes, Lakshmi rushes to Jaipur to support Malik and her friends.
My Thoughts
The Secret Keeper of Jaipur continues the narrative beautifully after The Henna Artist and does not slacken the pace even once. It builds on the strong foundation set in the first book. Even though Laksmi remains the guiding force, Malik's character emerged strongly and is well-nuanced. Despite the private education he received at the behest of Samir Singh, he remained grounded. He may have had his shortcomings but, loyalty remained his most noteworthy trait. To begin with, the young widow, Nimmi's character appeared to be unappreciative. But then that was probably her insecurities manifesting themselves in her demeanour towards Lakshmi. Alka Joshi has managed to put in words the rich and diverse Indian culture vividly. She has also done justice to the period the book is set in, by bringing to fore the widespread corruption in the society, the adamancy of the privileged to maintain the social hierarchy and the evident gap between rich and poor. I wanted to learn more about Radha, Lakshmi's sister but found that missing here. Maybe the third book would provide greater insight into her life and her equation with Lakshmi. The book has left me wanting more. So looking forward to the third book in the series.
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