The New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author of Secret Daughter returns with an unforgettable story of family, responsibility, love, honor, tradition, and identity, in which two childhood friends—a young doctor and a newly married bride—must balance the expectations of their culture and their families with the desires of their own hearts.
The first of his family to go to college, … his family to go to college, Anil Patel, the golden son, carries the weight of tradition and his family’s expectations when he leaves his tiny Indian village to begin a medical residency in Dallas, Texas, at one of the busiest and most competitive hospitals in America. When his father dies, Anil becomes the de facto head of the Patel household and inherits the mantle of arbiter for all of the village’s disputes. But he is uneasy with the custom, uncertain that he has the wisdom and courage demonstrated by his father and grandfather. His doubts are compounded by the difficulties he discovers in adjusting to a new culture and a new job, challenges that will shake his confidence in himself and his abilities.
Back home in India, Anil’s closest childhood friend, Leena, struggles to adapt to her demanding new husband and relatives. Arranged by her parents, the marriage shatters Leena’s romantic hopes, and eventually forces her to make a desperate choice that will hold drastic repercussions for herself and her family. Though Anil and Leena struggle to come to terms with their identities thousands of miles apart, their lives eventually intersect once more—changing them both and the people they love forever.
Tender and bittersweet, The Golden Son illuminates the ambivalence of people caught between past and present, tradition and modernity, duty and choice; the push and pull of living in two cultures, and the painful decisions we must make to find our true selves.
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An insightful look at bi-cultural lives, offering informative glimpses of life in the country of origin (India, in this case) and life in a new country (USA). Not only is the backdrop of med school and residency enlightening, but so is the opportunity to watch the lead character grow/mature/evolve, making mistakes and learning from those mistakes. The lead character and others emerge as poignant, self-empowering, mindful human beings – in both India and the US. The reader is given behind-the-scene perspectives on life in rural India — old traditions that still shackle India’s poor juxtaposed with opportunities newer generations have available to them. The reader is also treated to experiencing life in the US through the eyes of immigrants — the gift of participation in US med schools to the horrors of ignorant racial prejudice on the streets. But ultimately it is the characters one remembers most about this book — their uncertainty, their flaws, their strengths, their courage, their willingness to be themselves. The Golden Son is an engaging book and a good read.
Shipi Somava Gowda is a favorite author of mine. She is an excellent story teller with wonderfully developed characters. She can piece together very different cultures into a mosaic of human nature that compels the reader to understand and empathize. This is one of those books that will keep the reader to have a hard time putting it down.
I loved this book and highly recommend it. It made me laugh, it made me cry…beautifully written story of family and relationships.
Another wonderful BookBub find!
Great book
I loved this book. It’s a tale of a young man from a different culture who strives to be accepted in a new environment. The writing is so self involving in this mans life. It brings out cultural differences that most people imagine but it puts it into a real life adventure for him. It thoroughly involved me. I highly recommend this book!
This is a classic story of an Indian immigrant, who leaves India for the US to study, and leaves some of the old ways behind. However, I was touched to find that the protagonist “The Golden Son” of the family, continued to carry on his father’s habit of mediating disputes in the neighborhood, even tho he had no special wisdom. He had been educated and gone through medical school, so that made him more qualified than most. How he grows through this experience is a salient feature of the book. It tells the struggles of adapting to a new life, new customs, etc. and I found the book quite interesting.
Beautifully written. Characters feel like family. Loves this story.
I have been waiting for another book from Gowda ever since I completed the final page of her Secret Daughter. Another beautiful tale of another land contrasted with our land.
I loved this book. Interesting characters and it opened a window into the life of immigrant to the US from India. An enjoyable read. Highly recommend this book.
A bit slow
This was a fascinating story about people moving from one culture to another. Very interesting, great storytelling. Very compelling.