Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Ashok and Priya emigrated from India to the United States to build a better life. They worked hard, and Priya gave birth to three children. Their dreams are coming true as they have just moved to the exclusive Palisades Hills area. But when their twelve year old neurodivergent son is arrested, a nightmare begins for the family and the parents learn a lot about their other two children, some cultural realities about America and the American dream.

I loved this book and recommended it to my show more husband who also really liked it. Well written and plotted, with fully developed characterizations, the author has her pulse on our present day social and political climate. It is an engrossing, fast read that I didn’t want to put down.

The immigrant experience felt by so many is captured and brought to life on the pages of this book. People work hard, pay taxes, support the economy, provide essential services and yet are vilified. There is prejudice, often inhumane treatment, and ever present feelings of vulnerability, especially if their skin is dark and the ever present conflict between trying to assimilate yet holding on to one’s heritage.

I think this would make an excellent selection for a book club…so much “grist” for discussion…not only topics mentioned above but also policing, white privilege, systemic racism, stereotyping, generational differences, the price of upward mobility. As an aside, it was interesting learning about the present day caste system in India.

Thanks to @netgalley and @marinerbooks for the DRC. show less

Our lives are chock full of hopes and expectations. We face the expectations of our parents for us, those of our culture, and even our own expectations for ourselves. It can be hard work to live up to any or all of these sometimes contradictory expectations. Some people are crushed under the weight, some stop trying to achieve them at all, others struggle unhappily even as they reach those goals, while still others temper or alter expectations in order to create a happy and balanced life. show more This latter achievement can be quite difficult but it is the one that makes the most sense in the long run. In Shilpi Somaya Gowda's newest novel, The Golden Son, characters are trying very hard to stay true to what they know is expected of them, both from their family's perspectives and from a cultural perspective, but must, in the end, learn to adjust as situations and lives change.

As the oldest son, Anil Patel should, by rights, inherit the family farm and his father's position as the local arbiter of disputes. But his father sees a different path for him, pushing him to attend college and become a doctor. And Anil has no trouble living up to this expectation. When he applies for a residency at a prestigious hospital in America and is offered a place, he knows that he is leaving the life of a rural farmer behind forever but he can't escape his role as heir to his father's reasoned and fair practice of arbitration. His struggles with adjusting to a very foreign life in Dallas, the pace and stress of his residency, and his own feelings of alienation from India and from America both, all combine to make for a tough adjustment for Anil. When his father dies and Anil has to take on the position of judge and jury that he feels so unsuited to perform, he stumbles under the weight of these inescapable expectations.

Leena, Anil's old friend from home, the girl he grew up with and who he eventually had to give up spending time with because their friendship was considered unseemly, tries to fulfill her parents' and her culture's expectations for her. She agrees to an arranged marriage and goes into this relationship wanting very much to be a good wife, good sister-in-law, and good daughter-in-law. She does her best despite her new family's appalling treatment of her, wanting to not shame her parents or become a pariah in the community.

Both Anil and Leena are shamed by their failures to live up to the standards they and outside forces have placed on them and it is only through deep soul searching, in Anil's case, and an almost tragedy in Leena's, for both of them to look at their lives and see the expectations placed on them for what they are.

This is a novel of responsibility and identity. It is a tale of not belonging and of forging your own path toward happiness. It is, above all, a story of the weight of expectations and the problems that those expectations can create. Gowda writes in a simple and straightforward way even when she is presenting issues as complex as racism, spousal abuse, interracial dating, and medical mistakes. The details about Anil's residency and the fog he exists in during this time are well drawn and extensive. The brutal reality of Leena's life is hard to read but certainly an illuminating window into some Indian women's terrible existences, from which they have little to no hope of rescue. The ending is satisfying, if a bit speedy, and Gowda avoids the easy solution for her characters, choosing to stay true to their created personalities. Those who have an interest in India and the ties that continue to bind Indian immigrants to their country of origin will find this an appealing and easy read. show less

[4.25] When a novel can deliver a compelling plot while exploring a half-dozen lofty and timely societal issues in a tad over 250 pages, readers must tip the proverbial hat to a skilled storyteller.

Gowda introduces a cast of credible characters as she prods readers to ponder themes ranging from racism and generational conflict to cultural assimilation, police brutality and the challenges of connecting with a child on the autism spectrum.

Although the concluding chapters seemed just a bit show more rushed, I found “A Great Country” thought-provoking, touching and engaging from start to finish. show less

This book asks about the possibility and price of the American dream.

Ashok and Priya Shah immigrated to the U.S. from India almost two decades earlier. By working hard, they’ve achieved success, having recently moved to an affluent gated community in southern California. Deepa, the eldest daughter, insists on staying at her old school with its multi-ethnic students, including her best friend Paco whose mother is undocumented. However, Maya, the middle child, loves her new school and show more strives to be accepted by her wealthy classmates.

One day, twelve-year-old Ajay, the youngest child, flies his homemade drone near an airport and is beaten and arrested as a terrorism suspect. Because he is on the autism spectrum, though not diagnosed, his reactions complicate the situation. As the Shahs struggle with the upheaval in their lives, the community at large becomes aware of Ajay’s arrest and the response is not always positive.

Multiple viewpoints are given. The perspectives of Ashok, Priya, Deepa, and Maya are included regularly so we get to know them really well and understand their actions. Ajay’s thoughts are also given occasionally, as are those of one of the arresting police officers.

The Shahs see themselves as model immigrants. Well-educated, they’ve worked hard and become upstanding citizens: “they were a law-abiding, tax-paying family who had followed every single rule since arriving in the country with a proper visa and legal invitation to come.” Despite their success and efforts not to draw attention to themselves, they encounter prejudice. Ashok thinks about India “where the complex strictures of caste, privilege, and socioeconomic class were [difficult] to escape,” but he realizes he has exchanged these constraints “for the new challenges of being a visible minority and an obvious foreigner.” He concludes, “America had its own version of a caste system – some visible minorities were on the bottom, hampered by discrimination and historical disadvantages, a constant headwind against their efforts.”

So the novel questions whether it is possible for immigrants to achieve the American dream: “Is America truly a country where people can come from around the world to seek their version of the American dream, or a place where ancient biases and discrimination continue to reign?” The Shahs belong to a “model minority” considered “smart and knowledgeable” and they have “managed to ascend to a higher rung,” but events show that they are not totally accepted. It’s as if the message is “thus far and no further.”

Of course, there are also questions about the meaning of success. Ashok in particular thinks in terms of economic success, but he and Priya come to realize that material trappings do not guarantee happiness. The family receives more support from outsiders and the middle-class community in which they lived previously.

One aspect of the book that bothered me is that it borders on being didactic. Some of the conversations so obviously touch on topics like immigration and racism: “’When a community starts becoming successful, that is when the backlash starts.’” Then there are statements like, “A country whose global advantage was its diversity born of immigration was turning its back on what had made it great.” And a character’s thoughts become a history lesson: “[Deepa’s] parents didn’t bother trying to see what life was like for Black people in this country, to understand the legacy of slavery and how it had reverberated through centuries of life in America: Jim Crow, voter suppression, redlined districts, underfunded public schools. Entire communities had been neglected when it came to infrastructure, from safe drinking water to access to fresh food and health care.”

Touching on themes of immigration, community, social class, stereotyping, racial profiling, white privilege, upward mobility, and generational conflict, this is a timely book with an important message.

Note: I received a digital galley from publishers via NetGalley.

Please check out my reader's blog (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/) and follow me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/DCYakabuski). show less