Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Krishnan has raised the idea of going back to India to visit and perhaps adopt another child, but Somer has resisted. She seems intent on preserving Asha in the little cocoon they have woven around her. It's not the way he sees family, as a precious thing that needs to be protected. For him, family is a wild sprawling thing, a strong thing that withstands years, miles, even mistakes. For as long as he can remember, there have been minor transgressions and major feuds erupting among his big clan, and it doesn't affect the endurance of their family's bond.

-Secret Daughter

In Secret Daughter, Shilpi Somaya Gowda traces the story of two families. There is the story of Jasu and Kavita, living in poverty in rural India. In 1984, Kavita gives birth to a daughter. As female babies are considered less than desirable, she makes the difficult journey to an orphanage in Mumbai. Losing her baby that way, while incredibly painful, is better than the other possible outcome: she's already seen one of her daughters killed shortly after birth.

There is also the story of Krishnan and Somer. Krishnan, from India, meets Somer when studying at medical school in America. He falls in love with her and with his new country, and they begin to make a life there together. When Somer discovers she is infertile, Krishnan hits upon an idea: to adopt a child from India. Somer is reluctant at first, but eventually they make arrangements and travel to Mumbai in 1985. They adopt a young girl: Kavita's daughter.

Gowda shows us how these two families weather the next twenty years. Kavita and Jasu decide to try for a better life in Mumbai, only to discover that it will be far more difficult than they ever imagined. Somer and Krishnan gradually grow apart as their daughter grows up, their relationship in part weakened by Somer's inability to accept the importance India has in her husband's and daughter's lives--and thus in her own life as well.

This really is a character-driven novel, and luckily I liked most of them. Things got off to a bit of a slow start, but after that I became invested, mostly in Kavita and Jasu. Krishnan I liked as well, though not much of the story is told from his point of view. The problem is Somer. While I was sympathetic to her early difficulties in becoming pregnant, once she traveled to India she managed to burn through a lot of goodwill very quickly. She's breathtakingly narrow-minded--I really hope her lack of understanding of Indian culture and her complete unwillingness to share in any of it reflects only on her character and is not representative of Americans in the 1980's, because that would be really sad. It was very frustrating to watch Somer handle things so poorly, though I appreciated that Gowda was able to tie up her story fairly well. I think overall Gowda provided the happiest ending she could within the bounds of realism, but the book was somewhat on the sad side. Interesting, though.

Up next: A Trace of Smoke by Rebecca Cantrell