The Forbidden Daughter

by Shobhan Bantwal

Overview

A goddess in the temple. A burden in the family. Children are a gift of God, they say. But do they really believe? Isha and Nikhil Tilak are expecting their second child. Hardwired to favor a grandson, Nikhil’s egotistical parents have resented and coldly rejected their first granddaughter. So ever since the day Isha discovered that she’s expecting, this question has obsessed her: ‘Is it a boy? Or . . . God forbid . . . a girl?’ And finally the answer is there on the gynecologist's screen— it’s a girl! What will Nikhil and Isha do now? As their decisions add to their nightmare, Nikhil is found murdered in cold blood. And their innocent unborn daughter is blamed for it. With her five-year-old at her heels, grief-stricken and relentlessly oppressed by her in-laws, who believe the baby to be a bad omen, Isha sets out on her own to build her life around her forbidden daughters. Will she be able to protect them from the grave dangers that lie ahead? A thrilling, captivating, and thought-provoking portrayal of the dark secrets hidden in the Indian culture, this novel is bound to stir your conscience.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9788175993518
Publisher:	Prakash Books
Publication date:	08/01/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	344
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Shobhan Bantwal is the author of six novels and two anthologies. Her books combine contemporary women’s issues with romantic elements. Her articles have appeared in The Writer, Romantic Times, India Abroad, Little India, New Woman, and India Currents. Her short fiction has won honors and awards in contests sponsored by Writer’s Digest, New York Stories, and New Woman magazines. Her debut book, The Dowry Bride, won the 2008 Golden Leaf Award. The Unexpected Son won the 2012 National Indie Excellence Award. Shobhan lives in Arizona, USA.

Editorial Reviews

Bantwal (The Dowry Bride) shifts her focus from arranged marriages to the high stakes parents place on producing a male heir in contemporary India in her middling sophomore outing. Isha Tilak and her husband, Nikhil, are counting on their second child to be a son. But when an ultrasound reveals she's carrying a girl, an illegal abortion is proposed, both by Nikhil's wealthy parents and by Isha's physician, Dr. Karnik. Nikhil staunchly refuses and soon turns up dead, and Isha can't help wondering if he may have been killed for not going along with the abortion. Unfortunately, the dialogue is often flat and didactic ( "Did you know that a conservative estimate puts anywhere between eight and ten million girls as either aborted or killed in infancy in the last two decades?"), and the narrative shifts too late from ponderous exposition to almost page-turning suspense as Isha tries to determine who was involved in Nikhil's murder. Less time on the soapbox and more time getting into the heads of the characters would have helped. (Sept.)

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