Alka Joshi is an Indian–American author and novelist, renowned for her contributions to fiction and nonfiction genres. Born in Jodhpur, India, Joshi moved to the United States with her family in the 1960s when she was nine years old. She pursued higher education at prestigious institutions, obtaining her BA from Stanford University and an MFA from the California College of the Arts.

In 2020, Joshi's debut novel, The Henna Artist, was published as part of her Jaipur Trilogy. The novel, inspired by her mother, took a decade of research and was started in 2010. It gained significant recognition and was selected as the May pick for Reese Witherspoon's Book Club. The book has been translated into over 20 languages and is being adapted into a TV series by Netflix, starring Freida Pinto.

Following the success of her first novel, Joshi published the sequel, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, in 2021. Her latest work is The Perfumist of Paris.