Spanning twenty-five years, Secret Daughter tells the story of Kavita, a rural Indian mother forced to give her infant daughter to an orphanage lest she be killed. Poor Indian farmers cannot keep daughters around — they are just an extra mouth to feed. Usha, Kavita’s daughter, is adopted by Somer and Krishnan, two doctors. She is a California girl through-and-through while he is an Indian emigrant. Their differences never seem divisive until they adopt Usha (now called Asha through an accident in orphanage file-keeping).
Meanwhile, Kavita and Jasu have their long longed-for son and move to Mumbai, seeking a better life. When college-aged Asha travels to India to work for a newspaper during a fellowship, she seeks to uncover her biological parents and the truth about her birth.
Secret Daughter has a lot to commend it; though it is Gowda’s debut novel, it is crafted with authority. It is a nice story surrounding themes of dissatisfaction, lost dreams, and family obligation. It is a fine book.
Unfortunately, to me it was only a fine book. I wanted to adore it, but I just couldn’t. For me, the time span was far too broad for the reader to feel truly invested in the characters. Twenty-five years in 350-ish pages is a lot to accomplish really well. Further, the narrative jumps between multiple characters throughout the book. Typically, I really like this tactic, but it just didn’t work here. Again, as Gowda traverses decades and continents, crossing through the waters of each character’s soul was just too much. It couldn’t be accomplished well, and, as a result, I found myself unable to really connect to any character at all. The reader is distanced — watching the action rather than living in the action with the characters. While Gowda attempts to tell an emotional story, the emotional connection simply isn’t there. For my taste, she just bit off too much.
This is my book club’s April selection (and, let’s be honest, one of the better books we’ve read in a while!), and one of our members used to be in a book club with Gowda when they were at Stanford. Will I or will I not share this with Ms. Gowda when my book club Skypes with her at the end of the month? — that is the question. The answer — probably not. 
Unless, of course, she has googled herself and found this review. In which case, I am in hot water with more than just my book club.
Tags: Review, Secret Daughter, Shilpi Somaya Gowda
Lol, Apart from the fact that the lead character shares my name.. I dont see any compelling reason to read this based on your review. So maybe I will just pass it on
unless I have nothing better to do …
What a funny coincidence! I kind of gravitate toward books about India or Africa, so while this one was fine, I have simply read MUCH better books about the culture and the subject.
The premise sounds great, too bad it wasn’t your favorite. Maybe I’ll put it on my “if I have time list”
PS. Love the new site design – looks great!
Thanks!!:)
Hi Rebekah,
Thanks for taking the time to read and write a thoughtful review of SECRET DAUGHTER. I’m sorry you didn’t find the book more enjoyable, but I really appreciate the time you invested in it and your comments. Sorry to have missed you at Cheryl’s book club meeting, and hope you’re feeling better now!
Best,
Shilpi
Hi, Shilpi! Thanks for the comment. I am sorry that I missed the book club, too — I was so looking forward to picking your brain. For the record, I didn’t find the book unenjoyable at all — I read it in one sitting!!! I just didn’t find the characters incredibly memorable. I really liked Asha, though. I would like to hear more from her!