Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
Book Cover: "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."
This was a moving novel about choices. How does a mother give up a child? In Kavita's mind, there was no choice - India is a strange country filled with different customs and thoughts regarding women - especially girl babies. Her choice was to have the child killed or taken to an orphanage to one day be adopted by a loving family.
Somer's life was so different than Kavita's - she had it all - except she couldn't have children. Her husband, also a physician, was born and raised in India - his family still lived there. It was his suggestion to adopt and it took her a long time to agree. She had many struggles and never felt attached to this child, even though she loved her deeply.
I guess we are truly spoiled living here in the U.S. where women - for the most part - are treated equally. I learned a lot about the customs and difficulties that the Indian women live with.
Sometimes sad, but yet many happy moments in this novel. It made me think how truly blessed we are to live in a free country.
Completed: 9/23/11
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."
This was a moving novel about choices. How does a mother give up a child? In Kavita's mind, there was no choice - India is a strange country filled with different customs and thoughts regarding women - especially girl babies. Her choice was to have the child killed or taken to an orphanage to one day be adopted by a loving family.
Somer's life was so different than Kavita's - she had it all - except she couldn't have children. Her husband, also a physician, was born and raised in India - his family still lived there. It was his suggestion to adopt and it took her a long time to agree. She had many struggles and never felt attached to this child, even though she loved her deeply.
I guess we are truly spoiled living here in the U.S. where women - for the most part - are treated equally. I learned a lot about the customs and difficulties that the Indian women live with.
Sometimes sad, but yet many happy moments in this novel. It made me think how truly blessed we are to live in a free country.
Completed: 9/23/11
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