Secret Daughter

In India, Kavita gives birth to her second daughter, the first having been taken from her, never to be seen again. Killed?  Her husband, insists that the second daughter also be removed from their lives.  Kavita and her sister walk a great distance to bring the baby girl to an orphanage.  An orphanage from which she is adopted by a couple of married doctors. He is native to India and she is a white American. Asha has a good life but is missing her Indian connection, which she experiences on a visit to her Indian grandmother.


The third child Kavita has is the beloved son, Vijay, who does not prove to be the son that offers them their earthly and spiritual salvation.  Asha searches out the identity of her birth parents and learns to let go and love the family she has. Her birth parents also learn of her identity through a magazine article.  They never meet this daughter, after years of quilt has burdened them.  But learning of her good fate gives them some relief.


Though a bestseller, I found the characters to be superficial and cold - and the story read like a melodrama. I found the son, Vijay, believable and also like the Indian grandmother.