Review: Six Days in Bombay

Where are my historical fiction readers at? If you’re a regular reader of the blog or someone who knows me in real life and has to put up with me talking about books all the time, you’ll know I’m a fan of historical fiction. Though, lately, they’ve been letting me down. I’m waiting for the next wave of books to come that will teach me something new, not just tell the same stories that have been published for the last decade. That’s part of why I picked up Six Days in Bombay by Alka Joshi. While the time period may be similar to other books I’ve read (it takes place in the late 1930s), the setting was a new one and I was looking forward to reading it. It was a good enough read but, in the end, it didn’t wow me as I expected it to.

Here’s the book’s description:

When renowned painter Mira Novak arrives at Wadia hospital in Bombay after a miscarriage, she's expected to make a quick recovery, and Sona is excited to spend time with the worldly woman who shares her half-Indian identity, even if that's where their similarities end. Sona is enraptured by Mira's stories of her travels, and shocked by accounts of the many lovers she's left scattered through Europe. Over the course of a week, Mira befriends Sona, seeing in her something bigger than the small life she's living with her mother. Mira is released from the hospital just in time to attend a lavish engagement party where all of Bombay society. But the next day, Mira is readmitted to the hospital in worse condition than before, and when she dies under mysterious circumstances, Sona immediately falls under suspicion.

Before leaving the hospital in disgrace, Sona is given a note Mira left for her, along with her four favorite paintings. But how could she have known to leave a note if she didn't know she was going to die? The note sends Sona on a mission to deliver three of the paintings—the first to Petra, Mira's childhood friend and first love in Prague; the second to her art dealer Josephine in Paris; the third to her first painting tutor, Paolo, with whom both Mira and her mother had affairs. As Sona uncovers Mira's history, she learns that the charming facade she'd come to know was only one part of a complicated and sometimes cruel woman. But can she discover what really happened to Mira and exonerate herself?

Along the way, Sona also comes to terms with her own complex history and the English father who deserted her and her mother in India so many years ago. In the end, she'll discover that we are all made up of pieces, and only by seeing the world do we learn to see ourselves.

Six Days in Bombay was the first book of Joshi’s that I had read, despite knowing how popular some of her previous books have been. I got partway through the book and found myself wondering, just a little, about why people adored her books. Then, I heard from a few trusted reader friends that this one was, unfortunately, not up to the standards they expected from Joshi. Ah, that explained it. It hasn’t put me off reading her work - I still absolutely intend on getting to The Henna Artist - but it’s a bit unfortunate that this one wasn’t the winner I had been expecting.

But what was it that wasn’t living up to my expectations? It’s hard to put my finger on it. There was just something that felt…missing. Perhaps it was that I couldn’t get a good sense of Mira and I couldn’t quite understand why Sona immediately fell into hero-worshipping her. Even after learning some stories and seeing Sona grow and then return back to Bombay…it didn’t quite answer the questions I had. I didn’t see why Mira was a big deal and I think I was supposed to for the whole story to work.

There was a lot happening at this time period - there are the first hints of the war to come and India is starting to push back against British rule - and I loved getting a bit of insight into what it would have been like to be a young woman with a complicated family history in Bombay at this time. Sure, this is fiction and Sona didn’t exist, but the beauty of historical novels (or any novels, really) is you can still put yourself in someone else’s shoes, especially when the author is writing from a place of knowledge.

Six Days in Bombay wasn’t a winner for me but I’m still looking forward to reading more of Alka Joshi’s novels in the future. I can tell she’s a skilled writer who has many interesting stories to tell - stories that I’d like to read myself someday.

*An egalley of this book was provided by the publisher, HTP Books, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*