Secret Daughter
A Novel
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4.6 • 20 Ratings
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- $3.99
Publisher Description
Gowda’s first novel explores powerfully and poignantly the emotional terrain of motherhood, loss, identity, and love through the experiences of two families-one Indian, one American-and the child that binds them together.
Compulsively readable and deeply touching, Secret Daughter is a story of the unforeseen ways in which our choices and families affect our lives, and the indelible power of love in all its many forms.“Set in California and the teeming city of Mumbai, Secret Daughter is a beautifully composed compelling story of love, loss, discovery and the true meaning of family.”-Anjali Banerjee, author of Imaginary Men
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Shilpi Somaya Gowda’s powerful novel is a wrenching, cathartic read. Secret Daughter revolves around Asha, a baby placed in a Mumbai orphanage by her birth mother, who fears her abusive husband will kill the child. At the age of one, Asha is brought to America by an affluent couple unable to conceive. Twenty years later, she returns to India to uncover her heritage. Gowda tells the stories of Asha’s birth family and adoptive parents with empathy and emotional depth, resisting easy heroes-and-villains moralizing on both sides. It’s an ultimately uplifting tale about the choices that shape us.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Gowda's debut novel opens in a small Indian village with a young woman giving birth to a baby girl. The father intends to kill the baby (the fate of her sister born before her) but the mother, Kavita, has her spirited away to a Mumbai orphanage. Meanwhile, in San Francisco, Somer, a doctor who can't bear children, is persuaded by her Indian husband, Krishnan, to adopt a child from India. Somer reluctantly agrees and they go to India where they coincidentally adopt Kavita's daughter, Asha. Somer is overwhelmed by the unfamiliar country and concerned that the child will only bond with her husband because "Asha and Krishnan will look alike, they will have their ancestry in common." Kavita, still mourning her baby girl, gives birth to a son. Asha grows up in California, feeling isolated from her heritage until at college she finds a way to visit her birth country. Gowda's subject matter is compelling, but the shifting points of view weaken the story.
Customer Reviews
Moving
I feel like this book has left me with a new perspective on motherhood, marriage, and poverty. Very emotional ending.