Book Review: The Secret Daughter

I am fairly sure that Shilpi Somaya Gowda's The Secret Daughter will end up on my Top 10 list for 2011. I was riveted from the very first page and totally satisfied with the ending. What gets better than that? Ah yes, Gowda's writing is great, too. This isn't just a satisfying plot read.

The book opens with a young Indian woman, Kavita, giving birth to a daughter. She knows her husband will dispose of the baby, so she escapes to the city to give her to the orphanage. On the other side of the world, Somer and Krishnan, both doctors, struggle with infertility. We see it coming, right? Somer and Krishnan adopt a beautiful girl from an Indian orphanage, and the story moves on from there.

The book then alternates between the lives of Somer, Krishnan and Asha, a privileged American family struggling to stay together; and Kavita and Jasu, whose life is full of hardship and, for Kavita, a constant sense of loss and longing for her daughter. Asha eventually makes her way back to India on a prestigious fellowship, and through her work there, she gains understanding of who she is and who her parents really are.

I absolutely loved this debut novel and look forward to reading whatever Shilpi Somaya Gowda has coming up next.

Thanks to S. Krishna's Books for the recommendation!

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