“The Spicemaker’s Secret” by Renata D’Silva and skillfully narrated by Nikki Patel is a novel set in two timelines: India in the 1930s and the UK in 1980. Bindu, a village girl was raised by her grandmother, a fabulous cook, because her father had died before she was born and her mother died in childbirth. Bindu is smart and beautiful, which causes jealousy among the villagers. Her dream is to escape the village and make something of herself. But after she wins a scholarship to further her education, she has to give it up because her beloved grandmother falls ill. She agrees to marry her childhood friend—the Landlord’s son. She goes from a life of hunger, thirst, and struggles to a life of luxury, albeit with no freedom.

I really enjoyed the first half of the novel, but I became quite fed up with Bindu, who’s inner thoughts were more of a woman from the 21st century than of rural India in the 1930s. It is hard to imagine that such feminist thoughts could even be formulated by a village girl educated by nuns, let alone repeated in just about every scene. As the novel progressed, Bindu became more and more unlikeable. The story became rather tedious, and I think it could have been much improved with more editing. I understand the author wanted to show the plight of women from that era, but it came across a bit as a 21st century lecture rather than a novel realistically set in a historical era.
Many thanks to Net Galley for an audio ARC of this book. My opinions are my own.

This is a very well-written, culturally-rich story about life, love, hardship, loss, persistence, and following your dreams. I found myself immersed in the Indian culture from clothing, customs, and even food while also experiencing all the emotions of the characters in the story! Truly a lovely journey!

I did listen to this on audio, and found the narrator to be pleasant and easy to follow. I did not have any issues with the narration, playback, or pacing.

🧚🏻Thank you to NetGalley, Bolinda Audio, and author Renita D'Silva for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

An Indian women in the 1930's fighting against the restrictions imposed on women and the plight of the poor people in her village. I very much enjoyed the first part of the book, but once Bindu married, the book because so repetitive with the same conversation between Bindu and her husband over and over and OVER that I completely lost sympathy for the heroine who seemed so selfish and ungrateful. With a little more editing, this book would have been more enjoyable and powerful.

The Spice Maker's Secret is a powerful story. The writing of Renita D'Silva combined with Nikki Patel's sublime narration produces a spellbinding story told in two timelines. We first have the story of Bindu both as a fiercely spirited motherless child being raised by her grandmother who cooks to support them; and in 1939 as a young married woman who has sacrificed much to provide for her ailing grandmother. Her fierceness intact, she must find ways to make an impact on her impoverished community within the constraints of the palatial prison of her marital home.

In 1990 London, Eve is grieving the loss of her husband and child in a car accident. Adopted into a loving family as a child, she is feeling untethered with this loss. He adoptive father brings her the handwritten cook book of her birth mother and grandmother to re-ignite her light within and to begin the healing process. To remember the things which bring her joy.

This is a story of love, unfulfilled dreams, loss, and sacrifice. But it is also the story of the powerful healing properties of food to body and soul. It is also the cautionary tale of the danger of secrets and broken communication.

I so loved this audiobook and I believe that fans of the Henna Artist series will love this as well. I look forward to more from both the author and narrator.

My thanks t NetGalley and Bolinda Audio for the ALC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bolinda Audio for the free audiobook in exchange for my honest review. This is narrated by Nikki Patel who does a good job!

Bindu is a beautiful, smart, and determined girl in a poor village, being raised by her grandmother who is a wonderful cook. Having lost both her parents at her birth, superstitious towns people have branded Bindu as 'unlucky'.

As a young girl, Bindu befriends the rich landowner's son, Guru. Bindu wants to further her education, become a doctor, and help the people in her village. But when her grandmother's health declines, Bindu decides she must marry Guru in order to ensure the best care for her grandmother.

While this is a colorful and enjoyable read, it did not always stay within the timeline which made parts of the story unrealistic. Otherwise, its a good historical read.

Excellent narration. This novel is ideal for readers who enjoyed the Henna Artist and the other books in that series. This is a compelling story about two women in the same family. Their trials and tribulations will engage readers and the common thread of shared ancestral recipes connecting generations is profound and moving.

This is a sweet book but I feel that it was a bit repetitive and could’ve been much shorter. I wasn’t completely taken by the personalities or opinions of a lot of the characters and wasn’t really bothered about what happened to them.

The audio presented a compelling exploration of India, weaving a tapestry of emotions that left a lasting impact. The narratives, particularly those surrounding loss and the absence of a mother, elicited a profound sense of sadness. As the stories unfolded, I found myself reflecting on personal experiences, drawing parallels to my own life where my mother was absent, and she, too, remained unaware of her own existence.

In the midst of these powerful narratives, a myriad of thoughts surfaced, occasionally causing a momentary loss of direction. However, far from detracting, this added to the authenticity of the storytelling. The genuine, unfiltered nature of the narratives created a strong connection between the listener and the profound stories being shared.

The emotional depth of the audio resonated strongly, immersing me in the complexities of life experiences and cultural perspectives. The artful storytelling not only conveyed the unique aspects of India but also invited introspection into universal themes of loss and the intricate tapestry of human connections.

I'm almost stunned speechless right now... what an absolutely gorgeous story! I'm telling you, I was so moved by Renita D'Silva's emotional and poignant novel The Spice Maker's Secret.

Spanning the lives of both the grandmother (back in 1939) and granddaughter (1990), D'Silva explores both of these amazing ladies' lives. Through moments of joy and tragedy, these women find an awe-inspiring strength inside themselves. An incredibly powerful novel.

Not to be missed.

The audio version is beautifully narrated by Nikki Patel. An emotional and stunning performance.

I received an ARC audiobook from Net Galley.

This is such a beautiful, heartbreaking story of love, resilience and sacrifice. Covering two timelines and countries, the stories converge through cooking and enduring familial love. Wonderfully descriptive and thoughtful. The narration was one of the best I've encountered, clear, compelling and immersive.

The Spice Maker's Secret
✒️ Renita D'Silva | ⭐⭐⭐⭐
🎙️Nikki Patel | ⭐⭐.5

**Thanks to @netgalley for the e-ARC and the ALC**

If you are looking for historical accuracy and a true representation of colonial and post colonial India, this ain't it.
But if you are looking for an emotional, heart-rending, intergenerational story with a diverse set of characters, characters who feel alive and stay with you, The Spice Maker's Secret makes for a wonderful read.

📖📖📖📖📖
It's the story of Eve, living in 1980s London and her mother Bindu, whom she had never met.
Bindu, a fiesty, brilliant young girl from 1930s rural India, grew up not only to be a stellar chef and a remarkable scholar, but also a most self sacrificing, caring and charitable person.
However, Eve has only ever known her English father and in the wake of the accidental death of her husband and child, she digs back to find her roots. A few pages of recipe is her only connect with her mother.
Will Eve get to know her past and Bindu's story? Will she find solace and purpose in her past?
📖📖📖📖📖

While I received both the e-book and the audiobook from Netgalley, I definitely enjoyed reading this way more than listening to it.
As an Indian myself, the mispronunciations of Indian names and the typical monotone in which all the Indian characters are narrated, was quite jarring.

Powered with lyrical prose, the characterizations were brilliant, with stimulating observations on the evils of income-inequality, class and caste systems. However, the narrative appears utterly one-sided.

This can be one person's unidimensional truth, but if one is to draw political/cultural inferences; reading this might make one feel that British colonialism and Colonists were the only things to have made sense in a stigmatized, uncivilized, corrupt and poverty-stricken pre-independent India.

If you take it to be just a story and ignore the misrepresentation of the colonial rule, this is an amazing read.
While reading a work of historical fiction, I really appreciate genuine portrayals of an era and its people.
However, this should be read as an entertaining fiction, only, and be left at that.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this audio.

I LOVED this book. Twist and turns and such a great book. The narrator also did great with it.

I did not realize this was going to be an audio book when I requested it. I can't figure out how to play an audio book through NetGalley. It's too bad because other reviewers seem to really like the book and I was looking forward to it..

I absolutely loved this story! It captivated me in the beginning. The narrator did an excellent job. The story has many twists and turns. I loved the main character, Bindu. I would highly recommend this story!

The Spice Maker’s Secret, by Renita D’Silva, is a sad, heartwarming, sometimes frustrating, and inspiring story. We follow Bindu in early 1900’s India from girlhood into adulthood. She lives with her grandmother in the village and helps her with cooking. Bindu is independent, stubborn and hardheaded, which alternately benefits her and gets in her way. In a future timeline, 1990, we meet Eve. Eve has recently lost her husband and daughter and is barely surviving. It’s clear that Eve is somehow related to Bindu, but we’re not immediately sure how.

I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed it. The narrator, Nikki Patel, did a fantastic job. It was easy to follow which timeline we were in and which character was speaking throughout the novel. I looked forward to listening and finding out how the story would progress. I also appreciated the Indian food and spice descriptions.

I have one major criticism, not about the novel, but about the blurb. It gives away too much and some of it is flat out inaccurate to the novel. Someone needs to read the novel and then rewrite it.

Special thanks to Bolinda Audio for the audiobook ARC via NetGalley.

I was originally drawn to this book because it looked like it might be similar to The Henna Artist, which I thoroughly enjoyed. This book did not disappoint. I loved Bindu. She was just such a well developed character who overcame so many obstacles in her life. I listened to the audiobook version, which has a wonderful narrator, Nikki Patel. I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to other similar books written by Renita D’Silva in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and Bolinda Audio for the opportunity to listen to this book.

I loved this book! The reader was fabulous and I could feel the desperation of the characters. Bindu was such a complex character with strength and fire in her personality. I could really feel her desperation to change her fate. I also loved the friend who became her maid. She was a good friend. It's hard to understand the traditions of other cultures, but I really felt the value of the traditions yet the limitations to women. Enlightening to see the chains of poverty when there are also chains in the traditions. Lovely book! One I would gladly recommend to others to read.

Thanks Bolinda Audio and NetGalley for this ARC!

<b>Actual Rating 3.5</b>

India, 1930s: Bindu has always been called unlucky by those around her, but her grandmother loves her and teaches her to cook the most delicious foods in their village. She has plans to win the scholarship from the Catholic school in her village and take her grandmother to the city for a better life, yearning for freedom. But tragedy strikes and she finds herself forced to make a choice that will change her entire life. London, 1990: Eve finds herself alone and barely clinging to life after the recent loss of her husband and child. She used to treasure cooking from a hand-written Indian recipe book given to her by her adopted father, but nothing brings her joy anymore. Alone, she finds herself beginning to wonder more about her birth parents, hoping that finding answers may help heal her soul.

This story is told from dual POVs in a dual timeline. I honestly wasn’t sure which timeline I liked better, which is rare – usually one stands out with much stronger characters, but that wasn’t the case with this book as they were both strong. Towards the last third of the book, I did find the 1930s timeline got a little repetitive and lost some of the power it originally had. I think this was partially due to Bindu’s repetitive inner-monologue, and I found her actions a little frustrating and repetitive (of course, if I had been in that situation I might have been the exact same). I do think a little editing/trimming would go a long way.

The writing is poetic but not overwritten. It brought the setting and characters to life in a meaningful way and there were several beautiful passages scattered throughout the book. There are many flashbacks and memories incorporated throughout the prose, which can sometime make it a little difficult to keep track of the correct order of events. This does create a slower pace, but it was done well. I enjoyed the history that was included – it wasn’t ever a focus but was incorporated enough to add to the setting. The setting descriptions and recipes also brought the book to life in such a lovely way.

I enjoyed this moving book about loss, grief, control, and sacrifice. If you enjoy character-driven historical fiction set largely in India, then this is a must read. My thanks to NetGalley and Bolinda Audio for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

When Bindu decides to sacrifice her dreams to save her grandmother, her entire life and that of her community is changed.

This book was just… wow. I have no words. I loved how complex the characters were. The narrator brought the characters to life, adding to the beauty of the story. I particularly loved how everything came round in a full circle by the end. This was an emotional touching read and I definitely recommend it.

20th-century, domestic-life, India, grief, grieving, family, family-drama, family-dynamics, family-expectations, family-history, recipes, relatives, relationships, religious-practices, London, loneliness, culinary, cultural-exploration, cultural-heritage, cultural-differences, dual-narrators, dual-timeframes, historical-novel, historical-research, historical-setting, history-and-culture, audiobook*****

A very moving and exceptional narrative involving generational women beginning in India before WW2 and stretching to 1980s London. Life was different for women everywhere in those days and the cultural aspects are unfortunately similar in that respect. This is a very emotional story but also a peek into lives in different times and places. An excellent read, but not a light one. I read it over a weekend and loved it.
Nikki Patel is an excellent voice actor for this novel.
I requested and received a temporary audio copy from Bolinda Audio via NetGalley. Thank you!