Secret Daughter

By: Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Narrated by: Soneela Nankani

Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

Debut novelist Shilpi Somaya Gowda pens this compelling tale about two families, worlds apart, linked by one Indian child. After giving birth to a girl for a second time, impoverished Kavita must give her up to an orphanage. The baby, named Asha, is adopted by an American doctor and raised in California. But once grown, Asha decides to return to India.

©2010 Shilpi Somaya Gowda (P)2011 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

“Gowda writes with compassion and uncanny perception … while portraying the vibrant traditions, sights, and sounds of modern India.” ( Booklist)

Good listen, well read

For a first try, a good book. A bit slow at first, however, halfway through, it got better. The narrator was very good and made the story authentic.

If you enjoyed this book, I HIGHLY recommend A fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry.

I call this a Publishers Book

The story is engaging but poorly written. The writing is mixed with some parts well written and some poorly written, much of it maudlin. When I read a book like this I think a new author has a good idea but gets a publisher that puts a team of mediocre writers on it to get it out the door. Overall amateurish. Toward the end, I just started skipping over sections trying to miss the poorly written stuff. Much of the ending is just so much mush.

Would not recommend

I originally purchased this book in paperback but didn't get around to reading it. I ended up listening to it on audio to save time and effort because I wanted to know the story but did not have the energy to actual read the book. There are 3 stories essentially intertwined here....the story of the birth parents, the story of the adoptive parents and the story of the little girl who grows into a young women. I thought some of the story was interesting, but then other parts just dragged on. In the end, I would not recommond this book to anyone.

Movie Please

What a fascinating book to listen to. I found the cultural differences pretty accurate as I compared it to my own family. I really enjoyed listening to the difference in food taste.

I would’ve loved for mom and daughter to meet. I hope the author will have a continuation.

I would love to see this as a lifetime movie or mini series. It’d be wonderful to add some Asian diversity.

Potential Spoiler alert...

I thought (assumed) the book would go a different way. I usually fast forward through tons of pages in many books, however, I only started fast forwarding in the end. That is a slight plus for me. I’m not gonna lie as the time ticked away and I realized I was nearing the end I started getting angry with the author. I knew she wasn’t going to give me what I wanted. The book was well written but the story left me wanting more.

I hate to be so negative and this is the only book review I’ve ever written. However, I’ve read/listened to over 30 books in the last two months. This book had so much potential. It was right up my alley until I realized the content I wanted was not going to happen!!

I give mad props to the woman reading the story!! Her voice was beautiful and she did an amazing job!!

Disappointing and Depressing

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Too little, too late.

What three words best describe Soneela Nankani’s performance?

Okay. Mispronounces Indian words.

Any additional comments?

It was hard work getting through this book because it was an emotional downer almost all the way through.

Loving this author

Such beautiful novels of family and culture. If you haven’t read Gowda yet, do so soon.

Just OK

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

The book was entertaining, but not something I would recommend to an avid reader. It was just OK.

If you’ve listened to books by Shilpi Somaya Gowda before, how does this one compare?

Shilpi is a good reader and her Indian accents added to the story.

Any additional comments?

I would have liked for the characters to have been developed a little better. I felt like the story was being

Great read for a book club!

Color me impressed. I went in with low expectations because this was a first-time author, but I was quickly hooked. The writing was solid, the story well-told and the characters well-developed. There were a couple chapters about 3/4 of the way through when I felt like I'd been duped and it was a book with an agenda (trying to help adopted children stop asking questions about their birth families), but that was fleeting and then quickly dismissed. This was engaging and a fast listen, yet I found myself teary-eyed at the end, which means I cared about the characters. If all debuts could be this solid, we'd be spoiled. I plan to recommend this to my book club, because it's great fodder for discussion.

An entertaining story of two worlds.

What made the experience of listening to Secret Daughter the most enjoyable?

The story was well written. I became engaged with the characters right away.
The performance was great and it was a pleasure to listen to.

What did you like best about this story?

I enjoyed learning a little bit more about Indian culture. This is not a culture that I am very familiar with so I found it very interesting.