Review: Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Secret Daughter is the debut novel of author Shilpi Somaya Gowda and is a powerful story about the ties, biological and otherwise, which bind a family together.  Although the novel covers themes such as poverty and the subjugation of women which feature often in novels set in India, these topics are treated with a depth and skill which allow this book to stand out among its peers.

The novel alternately tells the story of Kavita, a woman from a village in India and Somer, a woman in San Francisco who is married to an Indian ex-pat, Krishnan.  They are bound together by Asha - Kavita's biological daughter who she gives up at birth because she is not a son and Somer's adopted daughter who Krishnan and Somer adopted from a orphanage in Mumbai.  Of course, things are not as simple as that summary - Kavita mourns the loss of her daughter every day and Somer struggles with feeling alienated from her husband and daughter who share a heritage if not blood.  As the novel progresses, we witness the Kavita and her family's attempts at a better life with a move to Mumbai and Asha's development into a young woman who increasingly wants to know more about her Indian heritage and her birth parents.

Amidst Indian customs, exploration of the poverty of the Mumbai slums and the effect of the dowry system on the treatment of infant girls, Gowda presents a story about motherhood and the extents to which mothers will go to protect and provide for their children.  There are the obvious mother figures in Kavita and Somer but there are many others weaved throughout the novel including each of the women with their own mothers and women in the Mumbai slums. These stories of motherhood is what I found so moving about the book - the relationship of mother and child with all its joys and hurts is the great equalizer and lends humanity to each and every character.

I know this novel and the characters it introduced me to will stay with me for some time - I didn't want the book to end! The writing was excellent so I hope that Gowda will soon write another novel.  In the meantime, take time to treasure this one and consider it as a Mother Day's gift for all those special mothers in your life. 

Thank you to Trish at TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to review to this novel.   I received my copy from Library Thing.