This novel picks up several years after the events of The Henna Artist and Malik, a fan-favourite character, is now twenty. It’s 1969, and he has arrived back in Jaipur to apprentice at the Facilities Office of the Jaipur Royal Palace. When disaster strikes the palace’s latest building project, Lakshmi returns to the city as well to help Malik clear an old friend’s name.

I really enjoyed this follow-up to The Henna Artist! It was great to meet Malik as a young man and to learn about a different region of India where Lakshmi and her now-husband live. I found the history of the gold trade in India very interesting too and it was fun to catch up with characters from the first book. I’m looking forward to the third in the trilogy!