Author: Shilpi Somaya Gowda
Enjoyment Rating: ***
Source: Kindle for iPad
Books I've read this year: 76
The year is 1984, and Somer, a young physician living in San Francisco, is devastated to learn at at 31, she's going through menopause. After a period of grieving, she and her husband, Kris, decide to adopt from India, where Kris was born and raised.
Halfway around the world, Kavita gives birth to Usha, the daughter she knows her husband will kill, just like he killed the one she bore last year. So when the baby is only a few hours old, she walks for a whole day to an orphanage and tearfully leaves her daughter there. Usha becomes Asha, and soon Asha is adopted by Somer and Kris and brought to the US.
For the next 21 years, the book follows the lives of Somer and Kavita, as well as both of their husbands and the daughter they share. It's an interesting story, especially as it concerns some of the issues that Somer has with wanting her daughter to be "American" and not to embrace her Indian roots too much, along with Kavita's persistent sense of loss. The book also presented great insights into how an internationally adopted child might feel growing up in the United States. However, there were so many voices and so much time passing that I felt like I was just scraping the surface of this story rather than getting a full, rounded picture.
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