Title: Secret Daughter
Author: Shilpi Somaya Gowda
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication Date: April 5, 2011
Paperback: 368 pages
ISBN: 978-0061928352
Genre: Fiction
Somer’s life is everything she imagined it would be—she’s newly married and has started her career as a physician in San Francisco—until she makes the devastating discovery she never will be able to have children.
The same year in India, a poor mother makes the heartbreaking choice to save her newborn daughter’s life by giving her away. It is a decision that will haunt Kavita for the rest of her life, and cause a ripple effect that travels across the world and back again.
Asha, adopted out of a Mumbai orphanage, is the child that binds the destinies of these two women. We follow both families, invisibly connected until Asha’s journey of self-discovery leads her back to India.
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.
My Review:
Secret Daughter written by Shilpi Somaya Gowda is a story about life in an isolated town in India and the lives of Kavita, her daughter Asha, and Somer, a doctor from the United States who is infertile, unable to give birth to a child of her own. Secret Daughter is filled with emotion as readers learn that Kavita must forfeit her daughter to save her life. In contrast to the life of Kavita, readers learn of the parallel and dissimilar, yet all too paradoxically related struggles Somer faces in her desires to create her own family. Gowda masterfully crafts parallel stories of these two women and their longings for family amidst adversity whether those adversarial foes stem from cultural or biological roots. The women are strong and well-described and I felt as though I knew the two main characters. This book is, in a sense, a celebration of triumph for families as it touches the reader with emotions that come only from the connections one forges with their family. As a debut novel, I believe Gowda has set expectations high for whatever she crafts next as Secret Daughter is an excellent story for all readers, but especially for those who seek true meaning from what it means to be part of a family.
Shilpi Somaya Gowda was born and raised in Toronto to parents who migrated there from Mumbai. She holds an MBA from Stanford University, and a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 1991, she spent a summer as a volunteer in an Indian orphanage. A native of Canada, she has lived in New York, North Carolina, and California. She now lives in Dallas with her husband and children.
Learn more about Shilpi Somaya Gowda on her website, Facebook page, and Twitter.
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I received an ARC copy of Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.
Can’t wait to read this one, which I have on my bookshelves. Glad you liked it!
Book Dilettante
Do let me know your thoughts when you have read it.
I am so glad you liked this book! I convinced my book group to read it (and now feel pressure…what if they don’t like it?)
They will enjoy it, no worries there.
Great review! I keep on reading so many wonderful things about this book that I had to add it to my wishlist! Have a great week!
It is a lovely book and i do hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
This has been on my tbr list….I really can’t wait to read it now.
May I ask, what do you do with all the ARC books you receive? How does one become part of the “Book Tour”?
Thanks Jennifer as always for a lovely review!!
I am so glad you enjoyed the review, the book is so beautiful and touching.
This sounds like a beautiful book. I had never heard of it before your review.
It truly is a lovely book.
This sounds fabulous to me!
It truly was a wonderful book.
I read this book last year and absolutely loved it! Excellent review!
Thanks, I really enjoyed the book.
Parallel stories and families that have a lot in common yet don’t know it are two things I really like in a book. Glad to see this was a great read!
I hope you choose to read it, I am glad I did.
Just bought this for my daughter. Now i have to wait for her to finish so I can read it too. EB
Excellent choice. I hope you both enjoy it.
This book was an excellent escape into the Indian culture. The author was able to capture the essence of India while telling a wonderful and poignant story. It evoked emotions and encouraged thoughtful insight.