Henna House by Nomi Eve - Review

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I read an ARC of Henna House that I picked up at my local thrift store.

Henna House by Nomi Eve tells the story of Adela Damari, her family and community, as well as the rituals that bind them together. It all begins in Yemen in 1920 when she's a small girl and her parents want to find her a future husband, but with her parents in poor health she becomes adopted by her uncle from a far off city. Alongside her cousin, she learns about the rituals of henna tattooing which open Adela's eyes to a wider world as she learns to love her heritage. The story covers a several decades and cover a lot of what happens in Adela's life, but this is the first moment her eyes are truly opened.

This novel is an intimate look at Adela's family life and it paints a well researched look at the history of the setting. It is truly a beautifully written and rich story with fantastically developed characters that I highly recommend to fans of sweeping historical fiction.


I read this sweeping work of historical fiction from March 5 - 10, 2015 and my review is also on Goodreads.