return to home  
Join   |  Gift   |  Member Login   |  Library Login
BookBrowse Mobile
Follow Us: 
    Reader reviews of Secret Daughter

Read what people think about Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda, and write your own review.

Secret Daughter

Secret Daughter
A Novel
by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
Published in USA Mar 2010,
352 pages.

Publication information




Critics' Opinion: 
Readers' Rating: 
About BookBrowse Rankings
Share: 
Buy This Book
Page 2 of 4 There are currently 21 reviews
for Secret Daughter
Select your view:
Order Reviews by:
Click Here To Write Your Own Review
Rated 2 of 5 of 5 by Susan B. (Cape Coral, FL)
Conflict of Eastern and Western World
A story of two cultures, one daughter, and two marriages that shows the clashes that develop and the realities of their worlds. A very readable novel. I found the characters to be stereotyped and the flow of conversations and thoughts not fully developed. I wanted to read this book for an upcoming trip to India but did not find the verbal picture of India to be very informative.

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Barbara C. (Riverside, CA)
The Facets of Family
Seeing India and Mumbai from the points of view of so many people made it a feel-good sociological study. Who could not fall in love with Asha from the day she was born? These were real people and the writing improved as the book went along. I have a soft heart and I wasn't disappointed. I have never wanted to go to India, but now I am not so sure.

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Elizabeth K. (glenshaw, PA)
Secret Daughter
This is a wonderful heart warming multicultural story that spans 20 years. Readers will enjoy reading and discussing the difference in American and modern Indian cultures. The common thread of love of a child will appeal to all ages. The glossary at the back of the books is helpful.

Rated 4 of 5 of 5 by Maria P. (Washington, DC)
The Past is Another Country
Many themes are presented in this memorable novel. In Secret Daughter the past is a foreign country, a country of extremes where a newborn child can be cast off and another revered for its gender. Adoption provides solutions but no ultimate answer. The past requires a visit so that we can truly see the present for what it really is, our home, our families and our earth.

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Dorothy T. (Victorville, CA)
Heartbreak and Hope
The loss of a child takes varied forms, but each is a cause of unspeakable grief and heartache. The Secret Daughter enlightens us about a place and a culture that might be unfamiliar to some readers, but the essence of the story is that loss, whether it comes as a result of miscarriage, sacrifice, or life decisions. But I was not left with a sense of hopelessness, rather just the opposite. The author handles all this with great skill and a style that kept me involved with the characters and their story to the very end. I encourage anyone who likes engaging fiction with a chance to learn something about India and its culture to read this one: it will stay with you long after you finish the last page.

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Katharine K. (Alpine, CA)
Secret Daughter
I REALLY enjoyed this book. It is one of those books that ends each chapter in such a way that you want to read on. I finished it in two days. I think it would be a good book club choice because it presents lots to talk about. It offers the perspective from two different cultures and shows how much misunderstanding there can be when both sides are not open to learn. It also explores the emotions of families of mixed cultures, via marriage and adoption. In this day and age, with the world getting very small, this book offers lots to think about and, even more important, talk about.
«  prev   1 2 3 4   next »

Become a Member
The Expats by Chris Pavone
Editor's Choice
  •  Jun 17 
  •  Jun 15 
  •  Jun 13 
Americanah
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Americanah Jacket

Fearless, gripping, at once darkly funny and tender, spanning three continents and numerous lives, Americanah is a richly told story set in today's globalized world.
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
Karen Joy Fowler

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves Jacket

The story of an American family, middle class in middle America, ordinary in every way but one. But that exception is the beating heart of this extraordinary novel.
TransAtlantic
Colum McCann

TransAtlantic Jacket

The most mature work yet from an incomparable storyteller, TransAtlantic is a profound meditation on identity and history in a wide world that grows somehow smaller and more wondrous with...
Click Here
   Most Recent Blog Entries
Top Ten Guidelines For How to Behave in a Book Club
Movies Based on Books: Summer 2013 (May - August)
Jewish Themed Young Adult Books, Not About The Holocaust
rss  RSS   rss  subscribe
Recent Reader Reviews
In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner
First time novelist Vaddey Ratner captured my heart and senses in this novel based on her childhood in Cambodia. Her story transcends any news story... read more
In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner
From the first page, I was drawn in by the lyrical writing of the author and mesmerized as the narrator, eight year old Raami, remembered the years... read more
TransAtlantic by Colum McCann
Trite but true, all good things must come to an end. I so wanted to keep reading the wonderful prose, the settings that let one think they are part... read more
RSS RSS feed More...  
Most Viewed This Week
1. Coraline
Neil Gaiman
2. Memoirs of a Geisha
Arthur Golden
3. The Glass Castle
Jeannette Walls
4. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Rebecca Skloot
5. Behind the Beautiful Forevers
Katherine Boo
More...
Book Club Recommendations
A Monster Calls
by Siobhan Dowd, Patrick Ness
Paperback (Mar/13)
The End of the Point
by Elizabeth Graver
Paperback (Feb/14)
Out of The Easy
by Ruta Sepetys
Paperback (Feb/14)
Maggot Moon
by Sally Gardner
Hardback (Feb/13)
More...
First Impressions
Members read and review books often months before they're published. See what they think in First Impressions!
Children of the Jacaranda Tree
by Sahar Delijani
4.5 Stars            (Jun/13)
Her Last Breath
by Linda Castillo
4.5 Stars            (Jun/13)
Crime of Privilege
by Walter Walker
Four Stars            (Jun/13)
More...
  Latest BookBrowse News
Kenn Nesbitt is new Children's Poet Laureate (Jun 12 2013)
Kenn Nesbitt has been named the new Children's Poet Laureate: Consultant in Children's Poetry to the Poetry Foundation, which noted that the two-year position... Full Story
rss RSS feed More...
 
BookBrowse Poll
Q: We've been discussing guidelines for book club etiquette. Which of these do you think are important?
Read the book
Listen thoughtfully to all members
Take notes while you're reading
Stay on topic when you're speaking
Enjoy yourself
Don’t get drunk
Bring chocolate, everyone likes chocolate!
Eat before you come so you don’t devour the snacks
Compliment others sincerely
Have a good sense of humor
Don’t fret the small stuff
Search: Title or Author
Free Newsletters

Online Book Club
More about
The Execution of Noa P. Singleton
Join the discussion!


Win This Book!
You Only Get Letters From Jail


one of the finest and truest collections of 'American' short stories I have ever read

Enter To Win Now!

wordplay
Solve this clue:
"T M T C, T M T Stay T S"

and be entered
to win....
frame top
New Author
Interviews
Carol Rifka Brunt
Kent Wascom
Jennifer McVeigh
Elizabeth Becker
frame bottom
HOME Book Submissions | Advertising | Library Subscriptions | Reviewing for BookBrowse | Contact Us