The Henna Artist is the debut novel written by Alka Joshi. This story takes place in India, in the 1950s. The main character, Lakshmi, is a young woman who had to make a difficult decision to leave her abusive husband and marriage that was arranged by her parents at an early age. Due to the negative social views and beliefs of many people at the time, she had to find a different place to start her new life. Longing for her family, she worked hard to achieve her independence. She used her knowl