Secret Daughter (Gowda)

Secret Daughter
Shilpi Somaya Gowda, 2010
HarperCollins
368 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780061928352


Summary
On the eve of the monsoons, in a remote Indian village, Kavita gives birth to a baby girl but faces a heartbreaking choice. In a culture that favors sons, the only way for Kavita to save her daughter's life is to give her away. It is a decision that will haunt her and her husband for the rest of their lives, even after the arrival of their cherished son.

Halfway around the globe, Somer, an American doctor, decides to adopt a child after making the wrenching discovery that she will never have one of her own. When she and her husband Krishnan see a photo of the baby with gold-flecked eyes from a Mumbai orphanage, they are convinced the love they feel will overcome all obstacles.

Interweaving the stories of Kavita, Somer, and the daughter they both love, Secret Daughter is a deeply moving family drama that poignantly explores the emotional terrain of love, loss and identity, witnessed through the lives of two families, worlds apart, and the child who binds their destinies. (From the publisher.)