What readers think of A Great Country, plus links to write your own review.

This is a book I couldn’t put down. The characters, action, scenes, narrative, and dialogue kept me engaged. Unfamiliar with Asian culture and the caste system in Mumbai and India, I was taken by the author’s ability to raise awareness and bring a new perspective to me and, I would guess, all those who read this book. The lives of the Shah family became my obsession as I woke up and went to bed with their story in my head. I highly recommend it.

This book touches on several racial/prejudice issues: how to respond to people you aren't comfortable with; how to respond to police in certain circumstances; how to offer support to ethnicities you aren't familiar with; why would someone speaking in a different language or with an unfamiliar accent bother you?; how to move forward when you can feel this discomfort, and not hurt someone else from your own ignorance or desire to fit in.

Although this country is a 'melting pot', recent events have encouraged the belittling of certain minorities. The smallest kindness will go a long way, especially when we don't know what others are going through.

The final remarks made by Priya brought tears to my eyes. It is on each of us to be kinder and more empathetic with those we meet, even if it's just for a moment.

Thank you, Shilpi for this insightful and thoughtful book.

Priya and Ashok, parents of three very different children, recently moved to the upscale gated community of Pacific Hills. This exemplified, especially for Ashok, the culmination of his American dream. When he arrived from India he wanted to give his family stability and a good life. Now he far exceeded those modest dreams.
Over a two week period the family is wracked by a series of events that test their beliefs that America accepts them, that their family is a happy unit and the very value system upon which they built their life.

The author presents her story in short, fraught chapters that capture the pathos all around. This book is an excellent depiction of an outwardly successful immigrant story that suddenly must deals with enormous ruptures in all aspects of their life. The children are important elements of the story as they try, often unsuccessfully, to acclimate to their new upward mobility. It is through there eyes the reader sees the many conflicts. The author draws you into the Shah family as you admire their love for one another and their eventual ability to embrace a new life. Ms. Gowda is an wonderful author who never disappoints her readers.

Ashok and Priya Shah leave their home in India, where the written caste system is oppressive and restrictive and move to America, the land of dreams and supposedly a great country. They work hard and after 20:years are able to move into a gated, elite community. All is well until their young son is arrested and spends many hours in the custody of the police. For the first time they experience police brutality, racial profiling and discrimination against their brown skin. They are crushed because they thought they were safe from those things. They weren’t Muslim or Black. They quickly realized that there is an unspoken caste system in this country, that they were the lowest but they didn’t belong with the elite either. Though the outcome is positive it leaves them wondering if they can ever recover. I think the author covers the subject well but the title bothers me. Is it supposed to be sarcastic? Because the country the author paints is far from great. We as Americans have the potential to do better, I hope that we can

Gowda delivers a tightly written story. There are no overwrought descriptions used as filler. She keeps the story moving forward without going down meaningless rabbit holes. The ending was not apparent until the very end so that keeps the reader turning the pages. Each major character is adequately presented which allows an easy to follow flow of unfolding events. I appreciated the ending. With the above being said, I garnered no new insights nor have the desire to pursue the topic further. This novel portrays events that happen around the globe every day. Some stories are less traumatic and many more are much worse.