Interweaving the stories of multiple characters linked by a country and a child, Gowda creates a sweeping tale about the life of women. Somer is an American living in California desperate to have a child with the man she loves. In India, Kavita is a young mother having girl children her husband's family does not want in a society that covets the male child over the female. Asha is the daughter that connects these women. Asha must return to the country of her birth to truly come to terms with where she came from and discover who she will become.
What I loved about this novel was the way the author explored a culture by giving us snapshots of this world. She provided us with a rich look into the history, the social structure and customs of India. She showed us both the good and the bad. She developed characters that had different feelings about this country and whose opinions changed over time with their own changing views on life. She gave us a look into what it means to be a woman in India, in all walks of life from poor to rich to even being a foreigner. Most importantly, she explored the universal theme of a mother's love and what it can mean.
The other idea Gowda explored was the idea of self-discovery. Asha must learn who she is by traveling to a country where she was born but had not been back to since she was a baby. She realizes how little she understands of her own culture and background. Through her travels and studies, she learns who she really is and also learns to appreciate the women who have loved and sacrificed for her. I found this idea of self-discovery compelling because it fits so much into where I am right now in my life and I could really relate to how she processed her feelings about it.
Coming Soon: Review of Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay.
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| Book Art and Author Photograph |
What I loved about this novel was the way the author explored a culture by giving us snapshots of this world. She provided us with a rich look into the history, the social structure and customs of India. She showed us both the good and the bad. She developed characters that had different feelings about this country and whose opinions changed over time with their own changing views on life. She gave us a look into what it means to be a woman in India, in all walks of life from poor to rich to even being a foreigner. Most importantly, she explored the universal theme of a mother's love and what it can mean.
The other idea Gowda explored was the idea of self-discovery. Asha must learn who she is by traveling to a country where she was born but had not been back to since she was a baby. She realizes how little she understands of her own culture and background. Through her travels and studies, she learns who she really is and also learns to appreciate the women who have loved and sacrificed for her. I found this idea of self-discovery compelling because it fits so much into where I am right now in my life and I could really relate to how she processed her feelings about it.
Coming Soon: Review of Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay.
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