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Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda

SECRET DAUGHTER explores the emotional terrain of motherhood, loss and belonging. As the story moves between the two families, one struggling to eke out an existence in Mumbai, the other grappling with the challenge of being a biracial family, and finally the grown up daughter who wants to explore her own roots.

In a tiny hut in rural India, Kavita gives birth to Asha. Unable to afford the ‘luxury’ of raising a daughter, her husband forces Kavita to give the baby up--a decision that will haunt them both for the rest of their lives.
In a braided narrative that unites the stories of Kavita, Somer and Asha, SECRET DAUGHTER, the debut novel by Shilpi Somaya Gowda, explores the emotional terrain of motherhood, loss and belonging. As the story moves between the two families, one struggling to eke out an existence in Mumbai, the other grappling with the challenge of raising a child from another culture, Gowda poignantly parses issues of culture, identity and familial loyalty. 

About the Author

Shilpi Somaya Gowda was born and raised in Toronto to parents who migrated there from Mumbai. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was awarded a Morehead Scholarship, and an MBA from Stanford University. After moving to Dallas in 2006, she enrolled in the SMU Novel Writing series. On the basis of her manuscript, she was selected to participate in the New York Writers’ Seminar. She lives in Dallas with her husband and two daughters, and is working on a second novel.

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Brighter Red: An immigrant son envisions Canada

Gavin Barrett was among those strangers who helped me when I came to Toronto in July 2008. Although he’s from Mumbai I met him in Toronto.

After reading Kevin Lobo’s book Brighter Red: An Immigrant Son Envisions Canada, I realise Gavin, besides being a successful advertising professional, has also made it his avocation to help newcomers to Canada.

I’ll write about him later, perhaps when he restarts writing poetry. This blog is about Kevin Lobo's Brighter Red.

Kevin Lobo is a man we should take seriously. He will be representing us in the federal parliament one day in the very near future. I'm convinced about that after reading his book.

And when that happens, we’ll be in safe hands. Again, I say this with conviction because the underlying feature in his memoir and political philosophy (he terms it his “Simple Dream”) is tolerance.

Kevin’s a Conservative and I don’t agree with many of his political views. But what comes through in his book with clarity and sincerity is his tolerance to differing views. He also has a rare trait (and one wishes it’ll last) is an ability to probe his own beliefs and hold them up for scrutiny.

Brighter Red begins as a memoir and Kevin narrates his immigrant story with detachment. Again, this is rare. I’ve been an immigrant here, too, and I doubt if I would be able to narrate my story with the same sense of detachment.

He quickly moves on to his political philosophy and discusses the various socio-political and economic issues that beset Canada.

Here, too, his descriptions, his arguments, his advocacy of alternatives are based on a deep-rooted understanding of the issues. He doesn’t adopt a journalistic style of being on an even keel while writing, neither does indulge in needless hyperbole.

That is not to imply that he doesn’t feel passionately about these issues. He does and given an opportunity, will definitely shape officially policy with passion.

Finally, the heartfelt praise of the Indian ethos in several places and in different contexts in the book surprised me.

In the nearly two years that I’ve been here in Canada and have interacted with immigrants from India, I’ve met some who feel acutely embarrassed to acknowledge their Indian roots.

Kevin lavishes fulsome praise on India. That is so rare and commendable, especially so because he immigrated to Canada from the Middle East and must have left India many years ago.

Reviewed by Mayank Bhatt

Illustrado

Miguel Syjuco’s Man Asian Prize winning debut novel, Ilustrado, opens in New York City as a corpse is pulled from the Hudson River and concludes on the coast of deserted island in the Pacific Ocean. Between these shores life unfolds.

Within, an enigmatic literary lion and his devoted student search for roots and meaning amidst the  chaotic ambiguity of modern life. In Syjuco’s world, history is no longer merely the invention of victors, but a work infinitely in progress, redefined at will to match individual tastes and of-the-moment motivations. In a labyrinth of emails, journal entries, newspaper clippings, letters and scraps of literary ephemera these mysterious men and their shared country are shown alternately in peril and in their prime; men of influence and shadows of their former selves; a nation alight with hope and terrorist fuelled flames. Syjuco masterfully reconciles these conflicting fragments with a twist of stunning inventiveness that redefines the nature of truth and possibility.

Miguel Syjuco has a master’s degree from Columbia University and is completing his Ph. D. from University of Adelaide, Australia. Born into a political family, Syjuco left the Philippines to become a writer. He lives in Montreal.

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