Alka Joshi was born in India and raised in the U.S. since the age of nine. She has a BA from Stanford University and an MFA from California College of Arts and runs an advertising and marketing agency. She has lived in France and Italy and currently lives in Pacific Grove, California, with her husband. The Henna Artist is her first novel.
Midnight, at the War (2026) Devi S Laskar "Laskar has created a complex heroine for our complex times: a journalist who fights for what she knows to be right and just, but can't find the same clarity with the men she loves. Laced with rat-a-tat-tat humor, fast-paced action, and war-ravaged settings, Midnight, at the War is a powerful punch of a story about what happens when you stop being your own worst enemy."
The Incredible Kindness of Paper (2025) Evelyn Skye "Even the greatest skeptics of happily ever after stories will fall hard for The Incredible Kindness of Paper. . . . Beautifully written, cleverly crafted, creatively detailed. Even on an overcast day, this story will leave you feeling as if the sunshine decided to make an appearance and stay for the long haul."
Tell Them You Lied (2025) Laura Leffler "I turned the final page of this novel feeling as if I'd slashed open the underbelly of the art world... Beware, fans of Megan Abbott and Gillian Flynn - Laura Leffler has one hell of a tale in store for you!"
The Lotus Shoes (2025) Jane Yang "I devoured this stunning debut! Yang's fascinating glimpse into 1800s China, the power plays between multiple wives in a wealthy household, the fixation on prized golden lotuses, and the heroine's exquisite embroidery 'painting' held me spellbound. I can't wait to recommend this novel to everyone I know!"
White Mulberry (2024) Rosa Kwon Easton "Easton eloquently reimagines her grandmother's past - a brave young woman caught between two worlds. A story inspired and inspirational, White Mulberry exposes the forgotten history of Koreans in Japan."
A Northern Light in Provence (2024) Elizabeth Birkelund "Birkelund's lyrical language transported me to sunny Provence, where I imagined myself sitting amidst a vineyard, wine glass in hand, and to the icy waters of Greenland, where I found myself reaching for a warm wool blanket. The developing bond between the troubadour poet and his French translator moved me deeply."
No Two Persons (2023) Erica Bauermeister "The greatest compliment a writer can pay another is to say, 'I wish I'd written that.' Well, I wish I'd written No Two Persons. I couldn't put it down. Evocative. Brilliant. Complex. Immensely satisfying. Storytelling at its best. This is one I'll be recommending to all and sundry for a long time."
The Golden Doves (2023) Martha Hall Kelly "Breathtakingly told . . . Add this page-turner to the canon of female freedom fighters to whom we owe so much and who would go unrecognized were it not for authors like Kelly."
Once We Were Home (2023) Jennifer Rosner "Under Rosner's talented pen, simple prose turns into poetry and ordinary stories become complex, poignant. I found this forgotten history of displaced WWII children and the return to their roots captivating, thought-provoking, enlightening, and bittersweet."
Ashton Hall (2022) Lauren Belfer "Lauren Belfer's Ashton Hall is masterful, riveting, and atmospheric historical fiction. It made me want to don a velvet cloak, brew a cup of tea, and settle in to watch Hannah and her ingenious son unravel the fascinating, dark, centuries-old secrets of a manor home."
No Land to Light On (2022) Yara Zgheib "Zgheib writes so lyrically about rootlessness, separation and a fierce longing for home that it makes the tragedy of war that much easier to bear. Sama and Hadi will always hold a special place in my heart."
Songbirds (2021) Christy Lefteri "Like the vulnerable songbirds trapped in mist nets, Lefteri’s characters—women who leave foreign lands to work abroad and send money back home—broke my heart and kept me turning the pages of her gorgeous novel well into the night."
Daughters of Sparta (2021) Claire Heywood "Helen of Troy and her sister Klytemnestra are reimagined in this gorgeous retelling of the classic Greek myth—not as women defined by their husbands and lovers but as battle-weary survivors of a patriarchal society who take control of their own destiny. Absolutely riveting!"
How to Kidnap the Rich (2021) Rahul Raina "White Tiger meets Caddyshack the movie in Raina's lively novel, brimming with rat-a-tat-tat wit, breezy prose and a keen observation of colorism, casteism and social inequity. Unputdownable!"
