Unexpected Son [Paperback]

Middle-aged Vinita and Girish Patil enjoy their middle class lifestyle in suburban New Jersey. Married for almost a quarter of a century, the Indian-American couple has a daughter.

However, Vinita's perfect world shatters when she receives a shocking letter postmarked Mumbai. Inside is a letter informing her that the illegitimate son she birthed stillborn back home in Palgaum, India actually lives. Her brother Vishal admits he orchestrated the hoax for her sake and that of his nephew. Now her first born, Shivraj College chemistry Professor Rohit Barve is dying from leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant. Vinita remembers years back when she was pregnant and Rohit's biological father Som Kori refused to marry her as their respective people from differing cultures even languages were feuding. She finds out when she arrives to meet and hopefully help her son they still are.

This excellent contemporary provides strong insight into the Indian-American culture (a trademark of talented Shobhan Bantwal; see The Sari Shop Window), a mother's eternal love for her offspring, and a fascinating "border" war inside a small village in India. Character driven, The Unexpected Son is a super Indian-American tale.

Harriet Klausner

I first saw this book on S. Krishna's Books blog and the cover immediately caught my eye. I've been making an effort to read outside of my comfort zone and this sounded like a great book to start off with. It was a wonderful read and gave an interesting glimpse into a culture that was pretty foreign to me. The story premise was immediately intriguing as a mother myself I cannot imagine going through 30 years of your life not knowing that you had a son and then to find out he is dying. It was shocking to see the types of cultural views and taboos that lead up to this situation and it made me wonder how true this is in today's world in India. In this story it was shocking that preserving the family's reputation was seen as much more important than the happiness of Vinita or even the well being of her child. Then we see how because her family pretended she had a form of cancer and was sent away for treatment instead of admitting she was pregnant she was still viewed as not marriageable and only introduced to men who had some sort of problem like being an alcoholic or a divorcee. All of this makes me want to learn more about the Indian culture to see how true to form the details in this story are.

Vinita was an interesting character because at times you heart breaks for her and other times she irritates the heck out of you and you want to shake some sense into her. She comes across as so real to me because she isn't perfect and makes dumb mistakes out of stubborness that a lot of us would make in her shoes. Things don't always work out in the end like in a fairy tale and she has to learn to live with the consequences of her actions.

Her brother, Vishal, is another interesting character because he can come across as a real bastard but really he does what he believes is right for his family even if that means concealing the existence of Vinita's son from her for all these years. You want to dislike him for what he does but you can't because it is obvious how much he loves Vinita and respects his parents.

I did not want to put this one down and my co-workers laughed at me as I frantically tried to finish the last 8 pages before we had to start a training class because I couldn't wait to find out what happened. This is a wonderful book if you are looking for a glimpse into Indian culture.

Shobhan is such a wonderful storyteller! She creates amazingly realistic characters, wonderful rich complicated stories that touch the reader in so many ways. The Unexpected Son does not disappoint on any of these levels! The story is rich with Indian culture, the voice of a young girls heart, and a mothers sense of duty...

Oh the foolishness of youth. But oh, what a wonderful story! Imagine holding onto a secret for 30 years only to find out you were not the only one holding onto a secret. When Vinita Patil receives a letter from Mumbai, little does she realize that her world will never be the same. Vinita is such a wonderful character! She is such a strong independent woman, torn between her modern sensibilities and the traditions of her upbringing. The story follows her from a serious young 19-year-old college girl, who has little time for boys. Her studies are important to her, in order to break free from the traditional views of a woman's place in her society and in order to honor her family with good grades. But then there's this boy... He's a bad boy... and he slowly seduces Vinita with his attentions and sweet talk and then... you guessed it... "something" happens. Vinita is pregnant, unwed, dumped and an emotional wreck. The men in her family decide what to do- which is to whisk her away to Bombay, where no one will know her, keeping the family honor, and where she is told by her family that her baby was born stillborn. If the story were only one of a son showing up on a birth mother's doorstep unexpected, it would be a good story. But, in the hands a Shobhan Bantwal you can expect so much more! And it all starts with that mysterious letter...

With the skills of Shobhan Bantwal's writing, we experience the culture of India through the eyes and ears of Vinita Patil. The traditional place of women, family honor, dating, marriage... The shame that Vinita carries through out her life is tempered by her happy marriage to her modern Indian husband (their courtship was a wonderful part of the story) and daughter, but the happiness she finds there will be shaken with the news of a son... The relationships between the members of Vinita's family are rich and complex, and as family secrets are revealed Vinita's strength of character shines through.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters came alive off the pages, the story captured my attention, and I loved the traditional Indian culture that served as the core of the story and as the basis for the relationships between the family members. There is a wealth of book to discuss here, and it would definitely make a perfect reading group selection. Readers who enjoy stories that deal with traditional cultural values will want to put this on their TBR list, but anyone who enjoys a great story, with a strong female lead character will want to too! I couldn't help myself and read it in one sitting!