Reviews

الابنة السرية by Shilpi Somaya Gowda, شيلبي سومايا غاودا

claire_dobson's review against another edition

4.0

An interesting look at customs which are alien to me. Very moving and thought provoking at times. I felt it dragged a little in the middle but overall a very good read.

kimreadz's review against another edition

5.0

Wonderful book! If this is the author's first novel, I can't wait to read her second! I won the book through the First Reads giveaway here at Goodreads, and as soon as I did, I went to the authors website and read the first few pages in the preview! After just the first chapter, I was hooked!
The story is centered around the 'secret daughter' Asha/Usha. She is born the 2nd daughter of Kavita, an Indian woman who lost her 1st daughter immediately after birth to infanticide. She is determined the 2nd daughter will live and travels many miles to an orphanage.
In the meantime, Somar, an American woman married to an Indian man, suffers 2 miscarriages and learns she will never have a biological child. They adopt Asha, and the story proceeds from there. Somar has troubles with the cultural differences between India and the United States, and constantly worries that she will lose Asha to her biological mother. Asha wonders about her birth parents and who she really is. Krishnan, Somar's husband, balances missing his family and India with adopting American culture. There are unspoken fears, resentments and questions. Read the book! It's a good read.

evoss14's review against another edition

4.0

If only I could give half stars, this book would rate a 4.5! Secret Daughter follows the life of a girl adopted from India and the lives of both her birth family and adopted family. I enjoyed the shifting perspectives in this book and the contrast between wealth and poverty is staggering. Somewhere in the middle of the book I felt a little irritated by most of the characters for their whining and lack of acceptance in their lives. However, as the characters develop, mature and grow in the story so do their personalities. At the end, I was sad to say goodbye to them.

jfetridge's review against another edition

3.0

This book was ok. The story was interesting and it was a quick read, but the writing was pretty cheesy and obvious. Most of the characters were also pretty underdeveloped and some of the plot devices used were silly and transparent. I think I liked the idea of the story but it could have been done better.

clarabow's review against another edition

4.0

Such an incredible story! has a beautiful underlying message of self-discovery, and the power of a mothers' love. Shares the truth on the effects of gender inequality in third world countries.

leasummer's review against another edition

It was okay. This is a pretty fast read. It lacks any emotion, for a topic that should be dripping with emotion. It is very surface, nothing is really explored. None of the characters are likable, except Kavita. It’s got a really intriguing plot but the execution lacked any depth. Part 4 is good, it’s too bad the rest wasn’t written like that.

vineela0705's review against another edition

5.0

This story explores and celebrates the various roles performed by women over her life - a daughter, a wife, a mother and a matriarch. The author manages to convey angst, love, affection and self-discovery through simple words.

While the author did a good job in creating the major characters, giving them flaws and depth, Sarla Thakkar was the character that left a lasting impact. The strength, affection and acceptance she bestowed on her family, blood and adopted, was commendable. If the world was filled with people like her, no one would be lacking for love

The story was lagging at bit at places, though. While the author sped through certain momentous junctures, barely scraping the surface. For instance, Somer's journey of self- discovery and her grapple with cancer were just a few chapters wide.

While the culture gap's understandable given that Asha has never visited India, it seems a bit far-fetched that she would be completely unaware of basic Indian culture. Also, who doesn't know about waxing!? I would have looked like a bear right now, if not for that

lilylanie's review against another edition

4.0

Secret Daughter is actually a story about mothers - in fact it’s several beautiful and heartbreaking stories of mothers, intertwined and contrasted, over two continents and more than two decades. The novel grabbed me immediately, and within the first chapter introducing each of the two “main” mothers, I was fully invested and felt like I knew these women. At times you want to shake them for their terrible decisions, at times you want to hug them for their incredible pain, but always they seem very human and somehow relatable. I can’t recommend this book enough.

lnoelle's review against another edition

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. I thought the author did a good job of portraying people's motivations in many different circumstances. You were able to be sympathetic to the characters even if they were not always doing the "right" things because you were able to understand the motivations behind the actions. The book made me want to travel to India. I think it would be a difficult but enriching experience.

callmejoce's review against another edition

3.0

Jocelyn stared at her laptop to consider her review of Secret Daughter. The book was a nice story, it's premise was interesting. She *liked* this book, but what didn't she love it?

#$jkdjllllllll A cat jumped on the keyboard.

Oh, it was the narrative. Third Person narrative reads like a series of tweets if the characters aren't developed intimately and in close parallel to the plot. Jocelyn checked twitter to find an appropriate tweet to prove her point: "Ashu fried up her macaroni and cheese only to realize she wasn't hungry" Their anguish just seemed a touch shallow. Particularly Somer's character development wasn't very interesting. Maybe it would have been better too write this book as a trilogy and dig deep into the characters and the story.

This is my literary pet peeve: Third Person Narrative written like tweets.

I liked this book - it was a light, easy read - just not worthy of the buzz.