The Henna Artist Summary

Eight years ago, the British colonial government formally granted India its independence. Now, in the small village of Ajar in the Indian state of Rajasthan, 13-year-old Radha has just lost both her parents. Radha knows she has a sister who abandoned her family and husband just a few months before Radha was born; with no options left, Radha is determined to find this mysterious family member.

The novel jumps to Jaipur, where the buzz of the independence movement still hangs in the air. In Jaipur, sought-after henna artist Lakshmi and her assistant Malik decorate the hands of the city’s wealthiest ladies. In addition to her henna business, Lakshmi supplies cotton bark sachets to philandering husbands, helping them prevent unwanted pregnancies with their mistresses. Lakshmi is particularly close with her client Parvati Singh, and Parvati’s husband Samir—she hopes to help arrange their son Ravi’s marriage and to use the Singh’s connections to gain entrance to the palace of Jaipur. After living in Jaipur for 10 years, Lakshmi has almost enough money to build her house (complete with her custom-designed terrazzo floor), though the project is sending her into some debt.

But everything changes when Hari, the husband Lakshmi abandoned years ago, shows up in Jaipur unannounced. Crazier still, Hari has brought Radha, the sister Lakshmi never knew she had. Hari tries to reunite with Lakshmi, but Lakshmi reveals that he was physically and emotionally abusive; even though abandoning him brought shame to her parents, severing those relationships, Lakshmi could not endure his violence any longer. Lakshmi gives Hari money in the hopes that he will leave her alone, but after Radha tells Lakshmi that both their parents have died, Lakshmi agrees to take Radha in.

Lakshmi tries to teach Radha the nuances of Jaipur social norms, particularly when it comes to “class and caste.” Radha bonds with Malik and Kanta, Lakshmi’s youngest client, and she excels at mixing Lakshmi’s henna pastes, though Radha does not know what to make of Lakshmi’s work with the cotton sachets. For her part, Lakshmi admires Radha’s bravery and intelligence but is worried about Radha’s sexual naivete, especially when Kanta introduces Radha to Western movies and romance novels.

Parvati throws a lavish henna party, and Lakshmi brings Radha along as her assistant. During the party, Samir pulls Lakshmi into the Singh library and gives her a gold watch, embossed with a picture of a henna artist and the letter “L.” Later that night, Parvati accosts Lakshmi, explaining that Ravi and Radha had been playing inappropriately; Parvati also informs Lakshmi that she saw her in the library with Samir. Once they get home, Lakshmi forbids Radha for coming along on future henna appointments. Radha is wounded, and the two sisters begin to grow apart: Lakshmi is always busy with her clients, while Radha starts spending more and more time with a now-pregnant Kanta.

After Samir makes an introduction to the palace, Lakshmi begins working for the maharani Indira and her daughter-in-law, Latika. Latika is depressed because her husband, fearing that any biological heir might overthrow him, has sent their son away to England; for weeks, Latika has refused to speak or eat solid food. Over the course of many regular appointments, Lakshmi creates an elaborate design for Latika’s hands, helping her regain her voice and appetite in the process. As a thank you, Latika invites Radha to attend the Maharani School for Girls, tuition-free. Lakshmi is grateful, though she is also struck by the limited degree of freedom afforded to even Jaipur’s most powerful women.

A few months pass, and Lakshmi is still behind on the payments for her house—so eventually, despite her hesitation, she asks Samir to loan her some money. As Lakshmi is leaving Samir’s office, she runs into Parvati…and the next day, Parvati cancels the rest of her henna appointments.

On the evening that Lakshmi, Radha and Malik are scheduled to move in, it dawns on Lakshmi that her little sister is pregnant. Initially, Lakshmi suspects Hari of abusing her sister on the journey from Ajar to Jaipur, but Hari explains that he is a different person from the one Lakshmi knew all those years ago; now, he tries to help abused nautch women (sex workers). Eventually, Radha reveals to Kanta and Lakshmi that the real father of her baby is Ravi.

Radha expects Ravi to marry her, so Kanta breaks the news—Lakshmi’s matchmaking has been successful, and Ravi has already agreed to marry a wealthy girl named Sheela Sharma. In a panic, Lakshmi goes to the house of Samir’s mistress, Geeta, in the hopes of finding Samir there. Before she can tell Samir what has happened with Ravi and Radha, lust overtakes Lakshmi, and she and Samir have sex. When Lakshmi does explain the situation, Samir reacts poorly, blaming Radha and explaining that Ravi has impregnated other servant girls in the past. Lakshmi exits in a furious huff, and Geeta, aware that Lakshmi has just had sex with Samir, warns her never to come back.

Lakshmi crafts a plan: Radha will accompany Kanta to Shimla, a city in the Himalayas, where Samir’s friend Dr. Kumar will care for the two pregnant women. In the meantime, Lakshmi arranges for the palace to adopt Radha’s baby, as a replacement for Latika’s son in England. Radha does not want to give up her baby, and Lakshmi’s refusal to let her keep it enrages her. Worse still, Lakshmi’s clients begin canceling en masse, and she realizes that Parvati has been telling everyone that their henna artist is a thief.

Weeks later, Lakshmi is nearly out of money; Malik begins to fret that his beloved “Auntie-Boss” has stopped eating and sleeping. One day, Parvati arrives at Lakshmi’s front door, shocking them both. Parvati explains that Geeta told her about Lakshmi’s tryst with Samir, and that Lakshmi has utterly humiliated her. Still, Parvati pays Lakshmi the money she owes for the marriage commission. That night, Lakshmi gets a letter from Radha—Kanta is in trouble, and Lakshmi needs to go to Shimla.

When Lakshmi arrives, she learns that Kanta has lost her baby—and she will never be able to have children again. Radha goes into labor shortly after, and Lakshmi realizes that Radha should give her child to Kanta instead of to the palace. Dr. Kumar helps Lakshmi get out of her adoption contract with the maharani, and the two bond over their shared love of healing others.

At first, Radha wants to stay on as Kanta’s nurse, and Lakshmi tries to pay back her ever-growing debt on the house. But eventually, Malik and Dr. Kumar convince Lakshmi to sell her house and move to Shimla, where she will help Dr. Kumar grow his medical practice; it helps that Lakshmi and Kumar seem to be developing feelings for each other. Radha agrees to come along, and upon arriving in Shimla, Lakshmi reflects that 1,000 miles away from the place she was born, she is “finally home.”