The Spice Maker's Secret is a powerful dual timeline story.

There's the story of Bindu in 1939 India. She's a smart independent young girl and chef who had dreams for her life, but life circumstances (and the limited options for women) led her into a marriage that she didn't completely want.

And in 1990 London, there's the story of Eve. A woman who has always known she was adopted from India, but is now struggling with the painful loss of her own husband and daughter.

We don't completely learn how the stories intersect until the near the end of the story when Eve makes the trip to India to learn about her birth story.

It's an emotional story and well-researched--I've spent some time in India and greatly enjoy Indian food, so the many references throughout the book bring the reader to the loud and colorful streets. It's a subtle sense of place. The historical references are also interesting and I learned some things about Indian history.

The audiobook was done well and the narrator had a great voice.

As much as I liked the story, the narrator, and the characters, I couldn't help but feel, though, that the story was just too drawn it. It was fairly obvious where the story was going most of the time and I often found myself just wishing we would get there. I may not have been in the right mood for it, but it just felt a bit repetitive. I even ended up looking up how many pages the printed book was as I figured had to have been 500+ page book considering how long the book felt...it was not. And that's not a good sign for an audiobook.

So, it's a book that had great potential, but just didn't quite get there for me. (But I did love the sense of place!)

Book: The Spice Maker's Secret
Author: Renita D'Silva
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction
Places Featured: India
Review Score: ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 (rounded down)

"The Spice Maker's Secret" by Renita D'Silva is a beautifully woven tale that immerses readers in the rich culture and history of India. D'Silva's evocative prose and vivid descriptions bring the story to life, making the aromas and colors of the setting almost tangible. The characters are well-drawn, and their journeys of love, loss, and discovery are deeply moving. While the pacing can be slow at times, the emotional depth and lush storytelling make this novel a captivating read.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

I loved this! So well written, with characters that make you love them. The dual timelines was not confusing at all. This is the best historical fiction I've read in a while! The narrator was perfect, and so easy to follow.

This book transports you back in time to India in 1939. Bindu in the kitchen with her grandmother learning how to cook with spices. You could almost smell the aromas.
Along side her story is that of Eve dealing with grief.
Two great women that the author delves into their lives. I had the audiobook. The accent on the narrator just brought the atmosphere to the story.

Ohhhhh I loved this you should read it my goodness I was transported into a
World
I didn’t know I needed!!

I found my interest in this book ebbing and flowing especially in the first 50% of the book. It definitely took me a long time to complete this book. The chapters alternated between the two main characters, Bindu and Eve, in two different timelines and also different continents. I felt Eve's chapters slowed down Bindu's narrative in the beginning of the book.

Bindu is a headstrong, resourceful and an intelligent girl who wants to change her and her grandmother's fortunes by securing a scholarship and moving to the city for her higher education. Her grandmother is an excellent cook and prepares food for the feasts organized by the local landlord. She also cooks for the villagers in exchange for other necessary items or services. Bindu along with her studies helps her ajji and she realizes that she is a gifted cook, just like her ajji. But Bindu's ajji's health is fast deteriorating and Bindu is worried about her and wants to provide the best of medical treatment to ajji. Bindu's character arc is remarkable and although she comes across as obstinate and sometimes the cause of her own problems, her determination to help the lives of the villagers is depicted in multiple scenarios. The backdrop of India's independence era and the setting of a remote village in Karnataka was captured brilliantly in Bindu's chapters.

Eve's narrative is set in the 1980's England and having lost her husband and daughter in an accident, she has stopped writing and never steps out of her house. But when her kind, next door neighbor is hospitalized and Eve has no choice but to take upon the role of a temporary guardian to her 11 year old daughter, Eve gets a chance to rebuild her life and connect with her birthmother through the book of Indian recipes. The last few chapters brings Bindu's and Eve's stories together in an emotional way.

I enjoyed listening to the book and the narrator Nikki Patel has done an awesome job. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank You, NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this book.

I enjoyed reading The Spice Maker's Secret by Renita D'Silva.

I loved the back and forth between characters and timelines.

It had something in it to keep be engaged.

However, it could have been even better.

I sometimes found Bindu very obstinate and creating problems which weren't there.

Still, definitely, worth a read once.

So I picked up this book because the cover reminded me of "The Henna Artist," which I loved. I somehow expected this book to be similar and although the culture and time period were, the stories differed greatly, and the characters were unique. I was so happy with this pick, although there were plot points which I did predict, there were some that I had no idea about. Just when I thought everything was wrapping up there was such a heartwarming ending to tie up all the loose ends. Definitely one of my favorite books this year, and certainly my favorite historical fiction of 2024 thus far.

The intriguing cast of characters added so much depth and complexity to the plot, it made for a truly gripping read.
Five stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Unfortunately I found this book very repetitive which was frustrating. I struggled to finish it. I did like the narration of the audio book.

I loved this book and the audiobook was very well done .
So excited for another south Asian author .

Thank your for the arc .

A beautiful story told over two timelines. The characters were wonderful and such an integral part of the story, I enjoyed listening to this on audio as I found it so atmospheric and could picture myself in the story.

Renita D’Silva’s “The Spice Maker’s Secret” is a captivating multi-generation historical tale that unfolds across dual timelines (1930s and 1980) and two distinct settings (India and London), featuring two interesting female protagonists, Bindu and Eve. Love, ambition, poverty, challenging marriages, societal expectations, colonialism, resilience, and the loss of loved ones are among the central themes explored in this narrative.

D’Silva’s writing captivates with its vivid imagery and descriptive prowess. Through intricate depictions of rural life and the British era in Colonial India, coupled with nuanced explorations of the rich-poor divide, interspersed with evocative vernacular references, D’Silva crafts an absorbing narrative.

The pacing and repetition detract from the overall experience. The narrative could have been significantly shorter. Listening to the audiobook, which stretched over 13 hours, it felt as though 4-5 hours were dedicated to reiterating information already established early on.

The Spice Maker’s Secret has a lot of potential and is a promising tale of resilience and identity. It could benefit from tighter editing to refine its execution and amplify its impact.

4.5 stars

The Spice Maker's Secret was a beautiful and heartbreaking tail of growing up, striving for change, gender roles, and grief.

The story follows two women, Bindu and Eve, though the majority of the time is spent with Bindu's story. Bindu is smart, impulsive, and sometimes prideful. She strives for better and seeks an education; however, she ultimately ends up in an unhappy marriage. Bindu certainly has flaws. Some of her decisions are quite rash and frustrating. She stays true to who she is throughout while still demonstrating character growth. I really enjoyed hearing Bindu tell her story with all the joy, frustration, and sadness that came along the way.

When we meet Eve, she is grieving her family and having difficulty moving forward. Her grief and story intertwine with Bindu's and is both beautiful and heartbreaking. The characters in this story were beautifully written,

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Nikki Patel. I found myself easily immersed in the story and had no difficulty differentiating between characters throughout.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bolinda Audio for an audio ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All expressed opinions are my own.

The bones of this book are really good - a great historical fiction about a woman living in 1920s India and rebelling against the standards of society. Bindu was a fantastic character that you really felt for and wanted to learn more about - I found myself rooting for her happy ending by 25% of the way in. The best parts of this book took place in the past and I looked forward to coming back to this section.

Flashing forward to meet Eve in the 1990s was not as exciting and honestly felt unneeded (we figure out what the ties are between the two by the end of the book if you couldn't figure it out by the synopsis, but it felt like we could have found out a different way to do so). Still, overall this section kept me slightly interested and wanting to figure out where Eve's story would leave.

The worst parts of this book that knocked it down to a 2.5 or a 3 were the editing, and the amount of times we had to watch verbal abuse be excused (I know why and this was probably a realistic depiction of the time, but it just made me so angry and I'll explain more in a second).

Let's start with the editing - Renita D'Silva had a great story in her head, and you could tell that in writing it, she just wrote whatever came to mind without proof reading (which is normal). She also probably wanted to drive home the point that Bindu was a very headstrong, lucky girl who only liked Guru as a companion while skipping school and that he had a temper and was spoiled. Because this is repeated SEVERAL times. When a good editor is at play, they will see these repeats and make sure that the number of times we hear about Guru and Bindu's bargain before marriage is only twice rather than the 20 times we ended up getting in this draft. So many sentences and concepts were repeated over and over, and at times it truly made me want to put down the book.

The second thing that made me want to put down this novel was how Guru's verbal abuse was downplayed so much by those around Bindu. Now once again, I know that this probably made sense for the time, but when her grandma/Adji was excusing it and telling Bindu to have compassion for him? I was tired of it! Adji knows how much Bindu wanted to be self-sufficient and also knew her time was probably coming to an end, so she should have told Bindu to leave him. I know, this isn't my story and I can't decide how things play out but GAH!!! IT WAS SO ANNOYING!!! And then Guru feeling sorry for himself at the end made me roll my eyes - this was your fault and you should have faced even worse consequences!!

Once again - the story was probably accurate to the time period, it was just a super frustrating read at times. I'm giving it a 3 because I enjoyed it overall, but this is not my top pick.

Narration on this book was wonderful. I did think it needs a bit more editing as there were sections that were slightly repetitive or unnecessarily verbose.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a beautifully told story from start to finish! I loved the characters and the two timelines were woven together perfectly.

Nikki Patel narrated it perfectly.

This wasn’t a typical book for me, partially because part of it was set in India. It is a dual timeline book. Bindu marries a man, above her station in this culture, but he is madly in love with her . Their marriage has some happy moments, but is often overshadowed with disharmony and misunderstandings. I learned quite a bit about the Indian culture from that time period. Eve has lost her child and husband in an accident and is struggling to function. We later learn there is a strong connection between Bindu and Eve. There were some very special, marvelous characters. The story is rich in details. The narrator gave an outstanding performance. I was blessed with an advance review copy, and I am leaving my review voluntarily. A new to me author, and I highly recommend.

This book is about longing, about wanting more and being afraid of what happens when you get it . Women wanting agency in their own lives. Mean girls grow into mean women regardless of social station. Each using their limited power to oppress others.
The story has two time lines one 1930s- a poor rural village in India.
Young Bindu, a poor girl has nothing but her grandmother, Adji. She and her village struggle just to live during times of drought and famine. Bindi and Adji make a meager living cooking delicious recipes for the wealthy stingy cruel landlord. Bindu is a brilliant student and has an opportunity to gain a college scholarship. Her life changes dramatically when her grandmother becomes ill, and she makes a bargain that dramatically alters the course of her life.
The other story is if Eve, in 1980 London . Eve is dwelling in the bottomless grief resulting from the recent loss of both her husband and young daughter. Sunlight comes streaming into her life when her neighbor’s daughter unexpectedly ends up in her care.
How the stories ties together was pretty obvious from the start.
I love when the main character isn’t perfect- makes morally questionable and self sabotaging decisions- like all of us .
I loved this book. I listened to the audio book. And if this doesn’t have you craving Indian food- nothing will
Highly recommend.

The Spice Maker's Secret by Renita D'Silva is written in two timelines. Although well written and vivid, I felt it needed an edit, as it was overly long. Beautifully read by the narrator.