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Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Biography

Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda is the New York Times bestselling, award-winning author of four novels: SECRET DAUGHTER, THE GOLDEN SON, THE SHAPE OF FAMILY and A GREAT COUNTRY. Her novels have been translated into over 30 languages, been #1 international bestsellers in several countries, and sold more than two million copies worldwide.

Shilpi holds an MBA from Stanford University, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was a Morehead-Cain scholar. She has served on the Advisory Board of the Children's Defense Fund, and is a Patron of Childhaven International, the organization for which she volunteered in India. She now lives in California.

Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Books by Shilpi Somaya Gowda

by Shilpi Somaya Gowda - Fiction

Pacific Hills, California: Gated communities, ocean views, well-tended lawns, serene pools, and now the new home of the Shah family. For the Shah parents, who came to America 20 years earlier with little more than an education and their new marriage, this move represents the culmination of years of hard work and dreaming. For their children, born and raised in America, success is not so simple. For the most part, these differences among the five members of the Shah family are minor irritants. But one Saturday night, the 12-year-old son is arrested. The fallout from that event will shake each family member’s perception of themselves as individuals, as community members and as Americans, and will lead each to consider: How do we define success? At what cost comes ambition? And what is our role and responsibility in the cultural mosaic of modern America?

by Shilpi Somaya Gowda - Fiction

The Olander family embodies the modern American Dream in a globalized world. Jaya, the cultured daughter of an Indian diplomat, and Keith, an ambitious banker, meet in a London pub in 1988 and make a life together in suburban California. Their strong marriage is built on shared beliefs and love for their two children: headstrong teenager Karina and young son Prem. But love and prosperity cannot protect them from sudden, unspeakable tragedy, and the family’s foundation cracks as each member struggles to seek a way forward. When Karina heads off to college for a fresh start, her search for identity and belonging leads her down a dark path, forcing her and her family to reckon with the past, the secrets they’ve held and the weight of their choices.

by Shilpi Somaya Gowda - Fiction

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. When his father dies, however, Anil becomes the de facto head of the Patel household and inherits the mantle of arbiter for all of the village’s disputes. Back home in India, Anil’s closest childhood friend, Leena, has trouble adapting to her demanding new husband and relatives. 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.