Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Author of
The Shape of Family (William Morrow, March 2020)
The Golden Son (William Morrow, 2016)
Secret Daughter (William Morrow, 2010)

Shilpi Somaya Gowda was born and raised in Toronto to parents who migrated there from Mumbai. She holds an MBA from Stanford University, and a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In college, she spent a summer as a volunteer in an Indian orphanage, which seeded the idea for her first novel, Secret Daughter. It was a New York Times and #1 international bestseller, and was translated into over 30 languages. 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. A native of Canada, she has lived in New York, North Carolina, and Texas. She lives in California with her husband and children.

Twitter / Instagram / Facebook / shilpigowda.com / Represented by Ayesha Pande

Books by Shilpi Somaya

The Shape of Family (William Morrow, March 2020)

Target Recommends Pick

From the international bestselling author of Secret Daughter and The Golden Son comes a poignant, unforgettable novel about a family’s growing apart and coming back together in the wake of tragedy.

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 from middle-class Philadelphia, 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, the light of their home.

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. Jaya finds solace in spirituality. Keith wagers on his high-powered career. Karina focuses relentlessly on her future and independence. And Prem watches helplessly as his once close-knit family drifts apart.

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.

The Shape of Family is an intimate portrayal of four individuals as they grapple with what it means to be a family and how to move from a painful past into a hopeful future. It is a profoundly moving exploration of the ways we all seek belonging—in our families, our communities and ultimately, within ourselves.

Praise

"A deeply involving story of a family falling apart, The Shape of Family rings so true."
—Emma Donoghue, New York Times-bestselling author of Room

“In [her] engrossing new novel … Gowda renders even the worst decisions made by the Olanders with compassion and insight, so much so that rooting for them—despite and because of their fragility—becomes a pleasure. I know these characters, and I love them, and for some unnameable hours in this uneasy spring, their journey from life, to death, to life was also mine. What a gift, to be that transported, and, eventually—blessedly—transformed.”
—San Francisco Chronicle

“Rendered with compassion, this is a compelling testament to a family’s struggle to find solace.”
—Booklist

“Gowda traces the fallout lines with compassion and a keen eye for the lies we tell ourselves to avoid facing our own demons…. A deft, patient portrait of grief.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“A moving exploration of how loss can change the contours of a life. Gowda deftly examines the forces that can make and remake a family in this engrossing page turner of a novel.”
—Thrity Umrigar, Bestselling author of The Secrets Between Us

“This beautifully written, poignant novel explores how one loving family deals with an unspeakable tragedy. It's a novel about race and culture, parents and siblings, marriage and love, but most of all, it's about finding hope after darkness. Shilpi Somaya Gowda is a compassionate and wise storyteller who keeps us riveted from beginning to end.
—Jean Kwok, New York Times-bestselling author of Girl in Translation

“Shilpi Somaya Gowda has painted an unforgettable portrait of a family’s loss, longing, and reconstruction. Haunting and beautiful, The Shape of Family takes hold of you from the first page and does not let go as it explores —in the distinct and rich voices of each family member—the forces that separate and the ties that unite a mother, father, daughter and son.”
—Lawrence Hill, Bestselling author of The Book of Negroes

The Golden Son (William Morrow, 2016)

A Canadian Bestseller
French literary prize, Prix des Lyceens Folio

International best-selling author Shilpi Gowda’s new novel takes young Anil Patel from his tradition-bound life in a village in Gujurat to a medical residency in Dallas, Texas. When we first meet him, thirty-six members of his extended family have journeyed from his small Indian village to the airport to see him off to America, where he will begin his residency. He is the first person in his family to leave India, the first to become a doctor, the first to have gone to college rather than become a farmer. But more important than any of these accomplishments is a simple fact of biology: Anil is the eldest son. As the eldest son in his clan of over a hundred, he will inherit the mantle of arbiter for all family disputes, from minor squabbles to serious conflicts. Anil’s father, and his grandfather before him, demonstrated wisdom and courage in the role, earning the respect of family and villagers. But Anil wants no part of this tradition. He is determined to strike out on his own and define himself apart from his family.

At the same time, Leena, a young girl from the same village, and Anil’s childhood friend, leaves her parent’s house to join her husband at his family compound in an arranged marriage. She soon finds nothing is what it seemed and that the practice of having parents arrange marriages on behalf of their children has failed her miserably. She is forced to make a difficult decision that will change her life forever.

Both a bildungsroman and a love story, Shilpi Gowda’s new novel follows Anil’s and Leena’s journey as they struggle to find their way and to come to terms with their identities and tradition. Anil finds himself torn between a beautiful American girl and Leena, his old childhood friend from the village who exerts a powerful spell. Will he be seduced by the freedom and opportunity that America has to offer or will his ties to India and family ultimately prove to be more powerful than he had anticipated? Shilpi Gowda brings her remarkable powers of description to her second novel, infusing scene after scene with profound emotional depth.

The Golden Son has been optioned for a film version by Canada’s Conquering Lion Pictures.

Praise

"Rich plotting and finely embroidered storytelling ... Gowda keeps her readers tethered to compelling, universal human themes ... A subtly drawn book, brimming with ambiguities ... ‘The Golden Son’ triumphs because of its many pleasures and complications: romantic intrigues, family vendettas, unexpected tragedies and criminal secrets harbored by characters in both India and America. This satisfying immersion in two complicated cultures offers no easy resolutions. Gowda displays once again that, although she’s writing what she knows, her stories are hardly predictable."
—The Washington Post

“The Golden Son swings back and forth across the world with easeful dexterity, pulling us deep into the lives of two protagonists who are as different as can be, and yet strangely similar. Shilpi Somaya Gowda's great achievement is this: she makes each locale she depicts fascinating and true and original; she makes each character she draws so heartbreakingly vibrant that even after we finish reading we can't forget them.”
—Chitra Divakaruni, author of Mistress of Spices and Oleander Girl

”At turns harrowing and uplifting, The Golden Son is an international tale of two childhood friends grappling with parental and cultural expectations as they embark on journeys of self-discovery. Compulsively readable and inspiring, Shilpi Somaya Gowda’s latest novel explores questions of responsibility and independence while offering a fascinating glimpse into rural life in India and medical residency in Dallas.”
—Cathy Marie Buchanan, author of The Painted Girls

”Shilpi Somaya Gowda is as adept at crafting disparate, fully realized worlds—a village in India, a medical school in Texas—as she is at creating compelling characters. I ached and cheered for Leena and Anil, as they struggle to live lives of their own choosing amidst the demands of tradition and the sometimes beautiful, sometimes painful bonds of family.”
—Marisa de los Santos, New York Times bestselling author and award-winning poet.

Secret Daughter (William Morrow)

IndieNext Great Read
Target Book Club Pick
ChaptersIndigo Heather’s Pick
Amnesty International Book Club Pick

On the eve of the monsoons, in a remote Indian village, Kavita gives birth to a baby girl. But in a culture that favors sons, the only way for Kavita to save her newborn daughterís life is to give her away. It is a decision that will haunt her and her husband for the rest of their lives, even after the arrival of their cherished son.

Halfway around the globe, Somer, an American doctor, decides to adopt a child after making the wrenching discovery that she will never have one of her own. When she and her husband Krishnan see a photo of the baby with the gold-flecked eyes from a Mumbai orphanage, they are overwhelmed with emotion for her. Somer knows life will change with the adoption, but is convinced that the love they already feel will overcome all obstacles.

Interweaving the stories of Kavita, Somer, and the child that binds their destinies, Secret Daughter poignantly explores issues of culture and belonging. Moving between two worlds and two families, one struggling to survive the fetid slums of Mumbai, the other grappling to forge a cohesive family despite diverging cultural identities, this powerful debut novel marks the arrival of a fresh talent poised for great success.