This debut novel stems from a summer in 1991 where the author volunteered at an Indian orphanage. Raised in Canada by parents from Mumbai, she is in the unique position to give both sides of this story, with heartbreaking honesty. Secret Daughter starts with the history of two women, alike in some ways and very different in others. Kavita is a pregnant woman in rural India: a good daughter-in-law, respectful to her husband, she is everything that a good Indian woman should be. Except that she has given birth only to girls; the first was taken away from her at the moment of birth, the second she holds for just one day. Somer is a doctor in America, married to another doctor of Indian descent. She has everything in life that a modern western woman is supposed to have. Except she can’t have children and desperately longs for a daughter. Through much sorrow and heartbreak on both ends, Kavita’s second daughter is given into the care of Somer and her husband. This is a story of family and what that might mean in a modern society and across cultures.

The story starts out being told from each mother’s point of view. Honest in its portrayals of emotions, the similarities between the two women are painfully obvious. However, as the book progresses, it diverges into each husband’s point of view and of course, the child herself, Asha. Though these storylines are all interesting in their own right, at times they distract from the central thread of the two mothers. Nonetheless, this compelling narrative will hold you until the end.