Six Days in Bombay - by Alka Joshi (Hardcover)

About the Book

"When renowned painter Mira Novak arrives at Wadia hospital in Bombay after a miscarriage, she's expected to make a quick recovery, and her nurse, Sona, is excited to learn more about the vivacious artist who shares her half-Indian identity. Sona, yearning for a larger life, finds herself carried away by Mira's stories of her travels and exploits and is shocked by accounts of the many lovers the painter has left scattered throughout Europe. When Mira dies quite suddenly and mysteriously, Sona falls under suspicion, and her quiet life is upended"--

Book Synopsis

"A sparkling travelogue and a poignant journey of self-discovery all in one. . . . Alka Joshi is simply the best!" --Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Alice Network and The Rose Code

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Henna Artist, this sweeping novel of identity and self-discovery takes readers from Bombay to Prague, Florence, Paris and London, to uncover the mystery behind a famous painter's death.

When renowned painter Mira Novak arrives at Wadia hospital in Bombay after a miscarriage, she's expected to make a quick recovery, and her nurse, Sona, is excited to learn more about the vivacious artist who shares her half-Indian identity. Sona, yearning for a larger life, finds herself carried away by Mira's stories of her travels and exploits and is shocked by accounts of the many lovers the painter has left scattered throughout Europe. When Mira dies quite suddenly and mysteriously, Sona falls under suspicion, and her quiet life is upended.

The key to proving Sona's innocence may lie in a cryptic note and four paintings Mira left in her care, sending the young woman on a mission to visit the painter's former friends and lovers across a tumultuous Europe teetering toward war. On the precipice of discovering her own identity, Sona learns that the painter's charming facade hid a far more complicated, troubled soul.

In her first stand-alone novel since her bestselling debut, The Henna Artist, Alka Joshi uses the life of painter Amrita Sher-Gil, the "Frida Kahlo of India," as inspiration for the story's beginning to explore how far we'll travel to determine where we truly belong.

Discover more novels from Alka Joshi:

• THE HENNA ARTIST
• THE SECRET KEEPER OF JAIPUR
• THE PERFUMIST OF PARIS

Review Quotes

"Six Days in Bombay is a sparkling travelogue and a poignant journey of self-discovery all in one. . . . Alka Joshi is simply the best!" --Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Alice Network and The Rose Code

"Six Days in Bombay is more than a skillfully-told story of sudden friendship and mysterious death. It is the story of two women who embark on a journey to answer that thorny question: 'What are you?' Each straddling race, culture, and class, they search for belonging in a society that insists on clear definitions of identity and status. . . . Once again, Alka Joshi deftly slid my feet into the shoes of a protagonist of another time and place, and I was swept away." --Susanne Pari, author of In the Time of Our History & The Fortune Catcher

"Six Days in Bombay is a great adventure story. Starting in India, then taking us through the crumbling world of Europe in the late 1930s, it's both big and intimate, a large canvas for a detailed portrait. Memorable, original, and thoroughly engaging, this is a tale of loss and learning and love." --Karen Joy Fowler, New York Times bestselling author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

"Alka Joshi ushers readers into a world on the cusp of war, and an Indian empire on the edge of independence, both of which serve as a cleverly drawn and fitting backdrop for the story of a woman seeking answers about her own complicated identity . . . A compelling and richly textured tale of art, loss, identity, and independence, SIX DAYS IN BOMBAY shines." --Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Daughter

"Sweeping, propulsive, and wise, you won't be able to put this one down." --Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, New York Times bestselling author of The Revisionists

"Six Days in Bombay is a stirring, thoroughly immersive read filled with an unforgettable cast of characters, transporting settings, an intriguing quest, and a beautiful homage to the enduring bonds that connect us. Riveting, resonant, and richly detailed, this is a must read!" --Chanel Cleeton, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Cuban Heiress and The Last Days in Barcelona

"Six Days in Bombay is a riveting mystery that pulls us into the exciting world of the late 1930s, where a young woman in search of her identity must leave the safe haven she knows in Bombay and travel to an increasingly dangerous Europe. Engaging, exhilarating, and hugely enjoyable." --Chitra Divakaruni, Bestselling Author of Independence and The Last Queen