Expected Publication: April 15, 2025

I enjoyed the books in The Jaipur Trilogy and was excited to see Alka Joshi had a new book coming out, but I have to say I'm more than a little disappointed in the story. I didn't connect with the main character, Sona Falstaff or any other character in the book. Sona is a nurse in Bombay, the year is 1937 and India is under British rule but the country is beginning to experience political upheavals. Sona is caught in the middle because she's considered half/half. Her mother is Indian and her father is British, but her father abandoned her mother years ago and has returned to England. Sona doesn't feel as if she fits in anywhere and struggles with her identity. The only thing she is certain of is that she's a good nurse and in her care is a young woman named Mira who has been admitted to the hospital after suffering a miscarriage.

Without revealing too much of the plot, Sona develops what in my opinion is a rather unrealistic instant connection with Mira and this made the rest of the story implausible. I enjoyed the journey and the description of the places Sona visited, but that was the extent of my enjoyment.
The story wraps up in 1959 and I was a little less than enamoured with some of the choices Sona made.

Thank you to NetGalley & Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.
#SixDaysinBombay #NetGalley

I was so excited to receive this book from NetGalley as I have read all of Alka Joshi's books and fell in love with her style of writing. She is so descriptive that you can imagine being right there with her characters. Like the Henna Artist trilogy, this book takes place in India and features Sona, who is a young biracial nurse who has led a fairly sheltered life with her single mother. When Sona befriends a female painter who is her patient, she has no idea how much of an impact this budding relationship will have on her life. Another incredible story where we see Sona develop into a strong young woman as she learns more about her friend and herself as she journeys across Europe.

I really enjoyed Alka Joshi‘s previous trilogy that she wrote even though there were times where I could not stand some of the characters, that to me, is the mark of a good writer, when they are capable of writing complex live characters that are not necessarily likable, but it is not overwhelming, and you ruined the rest of the story. I remember Adele reading a review from a native Indian woman Who claimed that the bank was very unrealistic, and that nothing about the way that the relationships work in the trilogy was true to life in India. That made me uneasy, and I couldn’t really put that aside while I was reading this book because part of why I read historical fiction is because I like to learn about different time periods and different places and if I. get the sense that what I am reading is not an accurate representation of a time or a place it feels like something major is missing for me. I would not read historical texting if I did not want a certain level of reality within my book, I would just read fiction if that were the case.

One thing I did very much enjoy a glass, the way this author continuously tackles the matter of women being second class citizens, this is a topic that I very much enjoy reading about and from the perspective I have, and that was no different in this case. We do get to see a lot of what life must’ve been like for women at that time. This was sent during the British ruling of India during the 1930s, and I found this to be a very romantic setting.

This was also based on the life of a real life author, which I was excited about initially, until I discovered that the rest of the story has really nothing to do with her actual life Which I always find annoying if something is to be a reimagining I would like that to be clear, that being said, the dog was still very readable, and already left about average for sure it kept me turning the pages despite all of the complaints I have that room giving Andy three stars. Those three stars are A reflection of my enjoyment, rather than the technical prowess of the author. As a storyteller Alka Joshi is great, but she surely has room to grow but so far everything I have right by her house been enjoyable, so I will no doubt continue to pick up her books.

This is my first book by this author although all of her other books are currently on my tbr. Sona, a nurse, meets Mira, a patient, who changes her life. This book follows the six days Mira is her patients that alter her outlook on life forever, The storytelling was beautiful and I loved the characters and the impact they had on one another.

Six Days in Bombay by Alka Joshi took me less then six days to read. I have read and loved all Alka Joshi's books. I absolutely loved reading this book, I learned so much about India and Europe from years ago. I loved the main character Sona and the brave, caring person she was who took care of others first. She bravely travelled through Europe, learning so much about herself and the world. I highly recommend reading this book as you will learn so much about Indian and European culture. There was some sadness and difficult topics in this book at the beginning but Sona overcame so much sadness. Thank you to #netgalley for this arc!!

This book is a standalone novel about Sona, a nurse from Mumbai, or Bombay as it was called in the early 20th century. A patient, Mira, comes into her ward and challenges her to dream big and see the world. Mira unexpectedly dies, but that is the beginning of Sona’s journey. Mira was a painter and Sona is tasked with taking 3 paintings to Mira’s friends in three different cities: Prague, Paris and Florence. Her journey ends in London, where she expects to meet the father who abandoned her. Mira’s life unfolds through the paintings she leaves behind and is not always the way Sona would have expected.

I loved this story. I loved the settings, and all of them seemed accurate, believable and right. I had thought it would be a stretch to get Sona to so many spots on the map, but I think the author pulled it off. I also enjoyed the character of Mira, whose character was inspired by the painter Amrita Sher-Gil. Alka Joshi did a great job of making Mira a character in Sona’s story; not creating a fictional biography of painter Sher-Gil. (I recently read, and got extremely annoyed with, “Frozen River,” which was based so closely on a real life that I almost abandoned it and read the biography instead. It wasn’t fun to continually wonder which details were made up and which were real.) Anyway, a great book by Alka Joshi.

I just finished reading Six days in Bombay by Alka Joshi.
I had enjoyed her first book ‘The Henna Artist’ and subsequent books in the series but Six days in Bombay fell flat for me.

The beginning of the book was very interesting but once the parts outside India started the storyline just didn’t work for me. The charismatic painter who was the heart of every party, Mira and the story line with her past was just not for me. Too many characters in her past that I really didn’t care about.


*** FOR PUBLISHER ---- ERRORS in PRINT ****
On Page 210 it says the women looked disapprovingly at “Mira’s” outfit
It should be “Petra’s” outfit not Mira’s
*******************************

As soon as I saw this book was being offered I just HAD to read it. I’m a big fan of the author Alka Joshi. I absolutely LOVED the Jaipur Trilogy.

Six Days in Bombay tells of the relationship between Sona, a nurse and her patient, Mira who is a famous artist. I love the way the author weaves their lives together and leaves Sona with a new outlook on her life. It takes her to Prague, Florence, Paris and London and leaves the reader wanting more.

The first half of the book was quite slow but the pace eventually picked up. It was a great read nonetheless and one I couldn’t put down. I read it from beginning to end while traveling from New England to Guatemala.

I can’t wait for more from this author. Highly recommend! Many thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the advance reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

I am a big fan of Alka Joshi, I adored her Henna Artist Trilogy. I couldn’t wait to read this new standalone story
You are transported back to India. This time it is 1937, we meet Sona an Anglo-Indian nurse working in the Bombay Wadia Hospital.she is nursing Mira Novak a famous painter, who has suffered a miscarriage. Mira is in the hospital for six days. Sona and Mira become friends. Unfortunately Mira dies suddenly and Sona is blamed for her death. Sona is devastated. She is driven into scandal and mystery when a note is left for her to deliver three paintings to friends and former colleagues. But why?
Sona takes the journey as per Mira’s request to Prague, Florence and Paris.
It is a real life lesson for Sona who lived a sheltered existence.
This is a beautifully written and researched novel It is a compelling story with engaging characters.
This book has everything Historical Fiction, mystery and intrigue.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade for this advanced readers copy.

This story takes us to 1930s Bombay, India. India is currently occupied by the British but on the brink of independence. A young woman named Sona works in an English hospital as a nurse. She has no idea, though, that the friendship she strikes up with a special patient, Mira the painter, will change her life forever.

This book took me on a whirlwind journey across Asia and Europe and my desire to jump in a plane and go travel somewhere was loving every second of being immersed in Bombay, Prague, Paris and Florence.

However, I wasn’t completely obsessed with some of the actual storyline. It’s hard to completely put my feelings into words because there were moments I loved and I really enjoyed Sona’s journey and her wresting with being “half-half” (with a British father and an Indian mother) and the conversation around identity. But the storyline that dealt with Mira’s past wasn’t my absolute favorite.

This is my fourth Alka Joshi book and I will read whatever this woman writes!! 3.75 stars.

Six Days in Bombay was a lovely read from Alka Joshi and certainly my favorite book of hers!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Six Days in Bombay publishing might just be my favorite Alka Joshi novel. The way she weaves identity and self-discovery into the story is very poignant.

Sona Falstaff is a nurse in a Bombay hospital in the 1930s, a time when India's fight for independence from the British is at its peak. Half Indian and half British, Sona once saw her mixed heritage as an advantage. But as tensions rise, she’s forced to confront where she truly belongs. Enter Mira Novak and Dr. Stoddard, two of Sona’s patients who unknowingly become the catalysts for her transformation. How do they change her life?

The Bombay in this novel felt incredibly familiar to me. Having spent a lot of time there growing up, the places Alka Joshi describes brought back so many memories. It was like stepping into the past but seeing it through a new lens.

On a personal level, this book resonated deeply. I was born in India, but my children were born in America, and the struggle with identity is very real. Whether it was Sona, Mira, Petra, or Edward, their journeys showed how identity shapes our experiences but also how we can learn to embrace who we are. Sona’s character growth, especially through her travels in Europe, highlights that truly understanding someone (including yourself) requires looking beyond the surface.

I could go on and on about this book, but I’ll just say this it’s a beautifully written, deeply moving novel that I won’t forget anytime soon.

Thank you, Harlequin Trade Publishing, The Hive and Mira, for this book.

Six Days in Bombay by Alka Joshi is a novel set in Bombay and tells of the relationship between Mira, an artist, and Sona, her nurse in the hospital where Mira is recovering from a miscarriage. After six days of listening to Mira talk of her life as an artist and the people she has been involved with, she unexpectedly dies and leaves Sona with the task of taking four of her paintings to each of four people in Paris, Prague, Florence and London. As Sona, new to traveling outside of her country, meets each of these four people and finds much more about her friend Mina. The characters that Sona meets along the way and the locations she ends up in are well depicted and the story moves along well.

very talented and well-written story with some awesome vibes in this work of historical fiction. would definitely recommend. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

Six Days in Bombay is a standalone novel by Alka Joshi.I loved her trilogy and was glad to have the chance to read this new book!It did not disappoint!It is the story of the connection between two women from different backgrounds.Mira Novak is a patient at Wadia hospital in Bombay and Sona Falstaff is her nurse.The story takes place as World War II is brewing.. Sona travels to Florence,Prague and Paris to deliver three paintings for Mira.The book has a great sense of place on her travels and you will enjoy smells.sounds and tastes!The book studies identity showing that things are not always what they first appear.SPOILER ALERT. I did wonder why Sona was not upfront about the parentage of her child when she was so upset about her own father’s secrets .I really enjoyed this book!Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing/Mira for allowing me to read this ARC.

Another book in Alka Joshi series about women in India. An Anglo-Indian nurse tries to clear her name when a patient dies on her watch.

The major theme of this book was about how certain people can come into your life for such a short time and have such big influences over the rest of your life. I found myself wishing that I were as brave as the main character to explore the people and places that she was led to... I enjoyed the various settings of this book (Bombay! Florence! London! Prague! Paris!) and enjoyed Sona's journey. I enjoyed this one quite a bit.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sona Falstaff, a hospital nurse in Bombay, has things more or less where she wants them. Yes, she faces a certain discrimination, positive and negative, because of her mixed heritage, which makes her a “half-half” in the lingo of 1930s India. She lives in a poor section of the city, and she must work to support herself and her aging mother. India itself is a state of flux as the British Raj comes to an end and demands for independence increase in intensity and volume. But all in all, Sona wants nothing more than to cling to the job and the life she knows.

Yet when the painter Mira Novak is admitted to the hospital, she upends Sona’s carefully constructed world. Mira’s vibrancy, passion, and generosity awaken a yearning to explore that Sona didn’t even know she had. But just as she begins to cherish the possibility of friendship, Mira dies, six days after entering the hospital. The job Sona loves is threatened by suspicion that she somehow contributed to the painter’s death.

Sona soon discovers that Mira has left her a set of four paintings with instructions to deliver them to their rightful owners. Now she faces a choice: fight for her job and play it safe at home, or take a chance on finding her true self in the wider world, whatever risk that involves?

The contrast between Sona and Mira, the friendship that develops between them, and the slowly revealed history that lies beneath Sona’s reluctance to take chances are all beautifully laid out in this well-written novel, making it a delight to read.

I hope to chat with the author on the New Books Network (link below) in April 2025.

Six days in Bombay follows Sona, a nurse, as she is tasked with finding people from her patient’s past. The journey to find them takes her from Prague, to Paris to Florence. Along the way she learns about herself, her patient and the people flags meets along the way. She is also pushed to confront someone from her past.

Alka Joshi has a way to completely transport you to all of the places her characters visit. The way places are described visually as well as by scents and sounds gives the reader a full picture.

2/14/25: It is a fitting day (Valentine's Day) to have finished Alka Joshi's 4th novel after her Jaipur trilogy (The Henna Artist | The Secret Keeper of Jaipur | The Perfumist of Paris), as the novel is all about Main Character Sona, an early 20's woman living in 1930's Bombay, falling in love with life.

This 352-page novel (hardcover) is set to release April 15, 2025, and is a historical fiction with a straight forward timeline, no back and forth to modern day. It has a pretty clear plot line of Sona being exposed to and befriended by a very worldly, charismatic, and beautiful artist, Mira, during Mira's 6-day hospital stay when Sona cared for her as a nurse. Sona's circle is largely filled with "good" people, including her mother, other patients Sona befriends, one of the doctors and a hospital handyman. But she is a sheltered and fairly poor person, living alone with her seamstress mother with no support from her father.

Author Joshi weaves in couple different mystery situations, as well as suspicious characters who are not nice or possibly not nice, friends or possibly not friends? (the nurse at the hospital, her friend's husband, one of the doctors, her father, the hospital handyman), and several instances to demonstrate how women were (still are?) 2nd class citizens. She deepens the "othering" of Sona by making a "half/half" or a product of a white British father and an Indian mother.

The first half of the book centers on those 6-days in Bombay and establishing Sona's life situation and her developing friendship with Mira. Through Mira she begins to experience new things outside the world of her mother and nursing. The second half of the book takes us on a bit of a global adventure as Sona takes on a special request by Mira. Throughout the book there is a bit of romance as one would expect in a novel about a beautiful young woman, but it is not the central theme of the novel. Along the way some of Sona's beliefs are challenged and as she exposed to new people and new situations she begins to grow up, toughen up, and see the massive potential and opportunities of her life.

Joshi does a great job of making us see and feel Bombay and understand what Sona felt like as a young woman. She also does a subtle but compelling job of educating the reader on how India was controlled by Great Britain. The other thing she does well in this book is show how people are not black or white, all good or all bad. This concept is a key plot element for Sona's maturation through the novel.

The only thing I felt was a little out of place was one "sexy" scene in the book that felt a little graphic to me compared to the rest of the novel. It felt unlikely to me given the era and the influence of Indian culture, but I could be wrong. I would have been perfectly happy to have the scene happen with more allusion than description. Similarly, I felt the cover art on this copy was too "romance" vibe. I feel it would have been good to show her in her nurse uniform to establish she is more than just a beautiful woman, but smart and serious about having a career and earning money on her own.

Overall this is a great historical fiction combined with a coming of age era for our MC Sona. 4.5-stars rounded up. Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Publishing for providing a Kindle copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

1/18/25: Yes! I was approved for a free copy of the book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review!

1/17/25: Huge fan of Alka Joshi and had the great fortune to virtually meet her on a zoom author talk for her original 3-book series (she was lovely). So excited to enter the giveaway for her upcoming 4/15 new release, and have requested it on NetGalley. Hoping I get approved!!!