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Review: The Unexpected Son by Shobhan Bantwal

Title: The Unexpected Son
Author: Shobhan Bantwal
Year Published: 2010

Genre: Adult fiction 
Pages: 326
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Location (my 2016 Google Reading map)India

FTC Disclosure: I bought this book with my own money

Summary (from the back of the book): It is a morning like any other in suburban New Jersey when Vinita Patil opens the battered envelope postmarked "Mumbai." But the letter inside turns her comfortable world upside down. It tells Vinita an impossible story: she has a grown son in India whose life may depend on her....

Once upon a time, a naïve young college girl fell for w wealthy boy whose primary interests were cricket and womanizing. Vinita knew, even then, that a secret affair with a man whose language and values were different from her own was a mistake. He finished with her soon enough--leaving her to birth a baby that was stillborn. Or so Vinita was told....

Now, that child is a grown man in desperate need. To help her son, to know him, Vinita must revisit her darkest hours by returning to her battle-scarred homeland--and pray for the faith of the family she leaves behind.

Review: I must have been in exactly the right mood for this book as I read it in one day! It has been on my TBR self for years. It's funny, isn't it, how we find books (or they find us) at just the right moment.

I liked the Indian culture, the traditions, and the political/cultural issues between the two groups in Vinita's town. I liked the smell of the food. Okay, I couldn't actually smell it, but the descriptions were good and I love me a good Indian meal! I liked the way the characters were intertwined--I can't say more since it would give away the plot.

I don't have a lot to say about this book except that I really enjoyed it, the story and characters worked for me and I recommend it.

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