When renowned painter Mira Novak arrives at Wadia hospital in Bombay after a miscarriage, she’s expected to make a quick recovery, and her nurse, Sona, is excited to learn more about the vivacious artist who shares her half-Indian identity. Sona, yearning for a larger life, finds herself carried away by Mira’s stories of her travels and exploits and is shocked by accounts of the many lovers the painter has left scattered throughout Europe. When Mira dies quite suddenly and mysteriously, Sona falls under suspicion, and her quiet life is upended.

The key to proving Sona’s innocence may lie in a cryptic note and four paintings Mira left in her care, sending the young woman on a mission to visit the painter’s former friends and lovers across a tumultuous Europe teetering toward war. On the precipice of discovering her own identity, Sona learns that the painter’s charming facade hid a far more complicated, troubled soul.

This book contains mentions of miscarriage and domestic abuse.

I love to travel, and reading is one of the most underrated forms of exploring the world. Diving into a novel gives us the unique opportunity to immerse ourselves in faraway places and embark on epic adventures—all without leaving our couches. If you’re itching for an escape this month, Six Days in Bombay is the book for you!

In the late 1930s, Sona, a nurse at a hospital in India, befriends Mira, a famous artist and patient. When Mira passes away unexpectedly, Sona is left with only a note and a task to deliver four of Mira’s paintings to various acquaintances from her past. She jumps at the opportunity to venture out into the world, ready to experience Europe, to better understand the mystery of Mira’s life and art, and to find herself along the way.

Six Days in Bombay is a worldly and expansive novel. It will stretch your horizons and urge you to dream big. Sona’s empowered story to fight for the life she wants to lead is sure to leave you filled with a renewed sense of fervor and vitality. What are you waiting for? Six Days in Bombay deserves the top spot on your bookshelf this April!