Secret Daughter: A Heartbreaking Family Saga of Adoption, Motherhood, and Identity Across Continents

Secret Daughter is the story of a woman who gives birth to a daughter, and takes that child away from her home, her village, to an orphanage in Mumbai rather than allow her husband to take the daughter and (commit infanticide) because she, Kavita, the Mother, has not given birth to a son. The first daughter of Kavita and Jasu was taken away from Kavita shortly after her birth by Jasu and his brother, who dispatched the infant in a way that we are never told. When Kavita delivers her second child, and the second daughter, she is prepared to protect this infant, so that Jasu cannot take this infant away too, simply because the infant is a girl. Kavita and her sister walk to Mumbai, to an orphanage where Kavita leaves the infant who she has named Usha. And then the two women walk back to their village where Jasu impatiently waits for them. When Kavita becomes pregnant with a third baby, Jasu, at the insistence of his parents, takes Kavita to a doctor for an ultrasound in order to find out the sex of the baby she is carrying. This baby turns out to be a boy, and everyone is elated to hear the good news that this pregnancy will result in a boy-child for this small family. Kavita is less happy--she feels overwhelming guilt and pain about having abandoned her daughter Usha at the orphanage. Usha is indeed a fortunate child, one whose fate has brought her to an orphanage where she becomes adopted by an American couple, of whom the husband is Indian, from Mumbai, and his wife, Somer, who is not Indian. The child goes home to California with them, and life progresses for both families. The struggle between an Indian identity and an American identity is one very powerful theme in this story. Somer fears that if Usha, who is now named Asha, becomes too much "Indian" that she will lose her daughter. As Asha grows up, her father, Krishnan, struggles with his own Indian identity, as Asha struggles to understand about her own identity, and past. Asha is a typical Americn girl who does typical American girl things--and learns very little about her Indian heritage. She wants to learn something, anything, and an opportunity to serve as a journalist at an Indian English-language newspaper comes her way. She goes to Mumbai, and she stays with her father's parents in Mumbai where she is welcomed into the large and expansive network of cousins, aunts, uncles, and her grandparents. She is "home". Her "Indian family" guides her through her first weeks and months of living in Mumbai--and gradually, Asha sees, learns, and ultimately feels comfortable in Mumbai. As her journalism project comes together, Asha begins to "understand" about what she's been seeking--knowledge about the people who may have been like her biological parents. She has begun a search to fin out about "who" she is, and "why" she was abandoned by her parents. Ultimately, this search takes her to the very orphanage where she had been taken by her mother and her aunt. She leaves the orphanage with information about finding her bio-parents. At this point I'll stop--I don't want to spoil the last parts of this book for you. I will say that the ending may not be what you expect, or maybe it is. You'll ave to get there on your own! Another reviewer mentioned the absence of any references to "Caste", especially in a part of India that was presented as being pretty solidly Hindu. I agree that the omission of references to "Caste" seemed to me to be a bit odd, too. And yes, I understand that legally, the Caste System was abolished, by law, quite some time ago. Nonetheless, the effects of the Caste system exist today in the structural arrangements of daily life in India, so that even some small references to its dynamics would have been helpful. An example: Asha is amazed at the swarms of people who are at the Mumbai airport when she arrives, and is unsure about what to do when a man swoops up her luggage and balances them on his head and follows her. Asha was puzzled at the apparent lack of baggage carts (such as we are accustomed to seeing/using) at the airport, and is unprepared for the appearance of a Turbaned man who simply picks up her bags, puts them on his head, and awaits her directions. When I read that piece, I thought about the various jobs that are "filled in" every day by people who may be the "invisible" workers of India, possibly (still formally and informally) members of distinct castes who struggle to earn a living every day, yet, present an ever present, yet, invisible presence in India's economic and social hierarchies. Likewise, when Jasu has dreams of going to the city from his village, he dreams of becoming someone who works at an indoor job, perhaps a messenger, perhaps a wallah in the great chain of persons who deliver lunch to people in offices every day. Their perspectives on life and success differ, greatly, yet there's nothing to really put these perspectives into clearer focus for the reader who may not understand the context within which the lives of its characters exist. Aside from that, I think you'll enjoy reading this book, and I heartily recommend it to you!

This is the story of two families, American and Indian. Somer and Krishnan met while in school, fell in love and married. Krishnan assimilated completely to American life, rarely visiting India in the 20 years since he left. Somer made no effort to learn about her husband's culture, and has only once visited his family. Both physicians, they adopted a baby from India when they learned that they couldn't have children of their own. Kavita and Jasu were a young couple living in poverty in India. When Kavita gave birth to their first child, a daughter, Jasu took the child away and presumably killed her. Brokenhearted by this, she made arrangements to give her second child up for adoption when she learned that it was a girl as well. Asha is adopted by Somer and Krishnan, grows up in America, and only when she is grown does she decide to take a year off of school to work in India and meet her Indian family. This precipitates a crisis in Somer and Krishnan's marriage, and Somer moves out to work through her feelings about motherhood and her relationships with her husband and daughter. Secret Daughter is very readable; however, I found a number of aspects of the book hard to believe. These include Krishnan's complete American assimilation; that he almost never visited his family; that Somer made absolutely no effort to learn anything about her husband's culture; that she was so shocked by aspects of Indian culture when they did visit; and that her friendship with a few women who did yoga was all it took to help her overcome her fears and get in shape. At the same time, I found Asha's actions and curiosity about her biological family, and the relationships she forms with her adopted Indian relatives, credible and touching. Overall, this was a good first novel that illuminates the differences in culture and how we might embrace and transcend them.

"Mother India does not love all her children equally, it seems". Secret Daughter highlights the practice of preferring boys over girls, leading to infanticide or abandonment of baby girls. The story immediately drew me in with an intense, visceral depiction of Usha's birth by her biological mother. The story focuses on three memorable characters: (1) Kavita, the biological mother, from a destitute, rural Indian village. Her story is heartbreaking, and she suffers so much that it's sometimes unbearable to read, but she is incredibly strong, a resilient survivor. (2) Somer, the American adoptee mother, from Menlo Park, CA, a working mother and pediatrician who suffers in her own way through infertility and estrangement from her own family. Finally (3) Asha, born as Usha, the daughter who is "saved" from an orphan's life of poverty and adopted by Somer and her Indian husband. I found that while Somer was by far the easiest to relate to, she was often the hardest to be sympathetic towards. Even the minor characters are fascinating. I particularly enjoyed Sarla, Asha's Indian grandmother, who is a strong matriach figure and has significant influence on Asha. The story explores many complex themes - identity, cross-cultural adoption, what makes a family, what does it mean to be a mother, a daughter, poverty and the growing split between rich and poor, working mother identity - and yet it is not heavy or off-putting. India itself is another important character, the beauty and contradictions, the extremes of dire poverty and open-arms welcoming society. Although I've never been to India, Somaya Gowda describes its sights, smells, sounds, and life there in such a way that I felt as if I had walked the streets, ate the food, and gone to weddings there. The story is beautifully written. I often found myself pausing to savor the choice of words, the phrasing, the wisdom in the words. I don't often get so engrossed in a book that I couldn't put it down, but I finished Secret Daughter in two nights and had to force myself to put the book down to get some sleep. The ending is not a Hollywood ending, and is very satisfying. I highly recommend this book - read it before it is made into a movie! I look forward to discussing this with my book club.

I learned of this book from a "Daily Deal" and would have bought it but since it was also in the "lending library" i decided to borrow it. I would have gladly paid for it tho. I really enjoyed the story The author did speed through a lot of stuff because the book is spanning over 20 years but I got the gist of how everyone felt and why they felt that way and I think this book will stay with me unlike many other books I have read. If adoption stories (from all different perspectives) appeal to you or you are interested in India then u may get more enjoyment out of this book If you are looking for more indepth stuff about these things you may be disappointed. The adoption aspect is what appealed to me and I do like reading about other cultures I really loved this book ***Spoilers**** Yes, some characters did annoy me I didnt like Somer much and after awhile I groaned on her parts but she did come around at the end and work out her feelings. Yes, I would have expected her to be more open-minded to her husband and daughter's culture given where she was from. But, you can't help the way you feel sometimes. You may think you are open-minded until you are forced to face something new and foreign to you. She had to work out her feelings as did Asha. I could understand how Asha felt too being different and not feeling like she belonged. A lot of kids not raised by biological parents feel that way they want to find some truth to themselves. Maybe not necessarily meeting biological family or having a relationship but just KNOWING things is enough I was disappointed she didnt get to meet Kavita and Jasu and really know why her mother did what she did and how she literally did save her life i enjoyed Kavita's story the most. She really sacrificed a lot for her family and never did forget her first children especially the one she was able to name Usha. I was disappointed her and Jasu never met Usha but at least she knew she did the right thing and her baby did have a good life. The book could have went anther route and had the perfect ending with having Asha meet her mom or even an miraculous meeting of them being at temple or on the same train and meeting that way but they didnt Jasu also had to face his "truth" of what happened to his first daughter and how he could have lost second one too if not for what his wife. He also knows that having than son he wanted so bad didnt turn out so great either.

This was an amazing story of two families. One poor family in India who have a daughter that they know they can not keep due to economics. Kavita had one daughter taken from her already and can't bear to lose another. Secretly she walks miles and miles to Mumbai in order to take her to an orphanage. A few years later, Kavita and her husband move to Mumbai believing that they will be able to forge a much better life for themselves and the son that was finally born to them. Another young Indian man left to attend medical school in the US. He meets and falls in love with a beautiful blonde haired California girl who is also attending medical schoool. They marry and make a trip to India so Somer can met her husband, Krishnan's family and so they can adopt a child since she has proven to be infertile. Somer finds India to be very disagreeable and does not want to return so Krishnan returns infrequently and by himself. Asha, their adopted daughter does not want to be a physician, much to their dismay. She majors in English and wishes to be a journalist. She wins a much coveted internship at Brown and is given the chance to live in India for the year and write a story about the slums and the poor children who live their. She is looking forward to this because she wants to get to know her father's family and his culture. Krishnan is proud of his daughter and glad that she will get to know his relatives. Somer is very fearful that she will lose her daughter and is against her going. Asha and Somer clash badly before she leaves for India making Asha even happier that she is leaving. The story is beautifully written and gives you a glimpse of what life is like in India for both the "haves" and the "have nots". It explores the feelings of an adopted child who wonders why her birth parents have given her up and what they are like. You see the troubles that even people who love each other can have when their cultures are so diverse. And you feel the haunting sorrow of a mother who every day wonders what has happened to the child that she had to give up. I am so happy that I stumbled across this book on a website and was introduced to this author. I am very interested in reading more that she has written.

"Secret Daughter" is an excellent book, on so many levels. The story revolves around India, and the tragic history of thousands of its' 'baby girls'. It follows the story of a young mother's intense love for the daughter she never knew. I appreciated how the author dealt with painful history, yet did not make it the focus of the book. Each character,( most of them women)managed to rise above their situation and make the best of their circumstances. I loved the development of the mother/daughter relationship. This book touches on many modern day issues; work and motherhood, adoption, poverty, and cultural differences. I appreciated the growth of the characters, as they learned to cope with decisions, regrets and events beyond their control. This book is about being a daughter, about becoming a mother, and about the age old question of what is more important,' nature' or' nurture'? If you have ever asked, 'what happened to that little girl who used to cling to my neck ? Who is this defiant teenager? If you are like many with a hole in your heart, because of a parent you never knew, please read this book. Read it and cry. Read it, and learn. Read it, and forgive those, who loved you, in the only way they knew how. . .

I'm not surprised that most reviewers seem to think that this book is a five-star winner. It has "bestseller" written all over it! Currently, it is on the bestseller's list in Canada's major newspaper (the home country of the author)...eventually, it may break into the U.S. market and make the bestseller's list here, too. The novel is captivating. It has a compelling story that propels the readers along on an emotional rollercoaster ride. The reader is introduced to interesting characters and placed in exotic locals. The novel is rich with intellectual themes. It is easy to read and hard to put down. And at the end...well, I shouldn't tell you about that, should I? I enjoyed the book and I would recommend it to readers who need a gripping tale to take along on a plane ride. This one will grab your attention and hold it while still not demanding too much thought in the process. You will feel emotionally drained when you finish. Also, you will feel like you've spent your time well getting to know interesting characters, and learning a lot about modern Indian culture. So, why did I rate this book three-and-a-half stars and not five? Simply put, it is very good popular fiction, but it is not literature. The plot is predictable. The writing is superior and very promising for a debut, but it is not outstanding. The characters are more real than you find in most bestsellers, but with the exception of Kavita, I found the characters to be two-dimensional, predictable, and stereotypical. It was a pleasure for me to find intellectual themes in a work of popular fiction, but their treatment lacked depth and complexity. Finally, the ending reminded me of what one is used to from a typical TV drama--there could have been far more character and thematic insight. The book is a very good work of popular fiction. It is a major achievement for a debut author. But the same themes and story could have been handled with far greater skill by talented literary authors...and it is this type of literary fiction that I enthusiastically seek and rate with five stars. Here are two fairly recent five-star books on modern India that I enthusiastically recommend: The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai and The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga.

My daughter spent a semester in India while in college. I bought her a WHITE light pants suit and was told she couldn’t wear it since it was for widows only. I loved the way the book interwoved the two family and how one family adopted the child and how the child found her adopted family. It was a lovely book.