Secret Lives of Mothers and Daughters

Secret Lives of Mothers and Daughters is a touching story about a small group of women whose lives are woven together as they struggle with issues of identity, insecurities, motherhood, family obligations, mental illness and the influence of culture and traditional roles on their lives.

I loved that the story was set in Ottawa, Ontario (yay Canada and CanLit!) but it was the often complicated bonds between mothers and daughters that drew me into the story. By using multiple POVs, Kushwaha gives her readers a well-rounded look at the issues and allows them to sympathize and easily connect with her main characters - Mala, Nandini, Veena and Asha.

This is a compassionate look at family (both birth and chosen) and through these women, the author provides an interesting look at cultural expectations from an Indian-Canadian perspective. Initially, there is a bit of a mystery, but readers become privy to the secret early on with the remainder of the book focusing on the relationships, aftermath and struggles of the characters.

I appreciated how these issues were explored with compassion and I think readers will connect with this story about family, identity, womanhood and motherhood and all the ups and downs that come with those roles. While the ending was tied up a little too nicely for my liking, I was impressed with this novel and look forward to reading more from this author.

My Rating: 3.5 stars

Author: Anita Kushwaha

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Canadian

Type: Trade Paperback (384 pages)
Source: Local Public Library

Publisher: HarperAvenue

First Published: January 28, 2020

Book Description from GoodReads: For readers of Shilpi Somaya Gowda’s "Secret Daughter" and Nancy Richler’s "The Imposter Bride", a breathtaking novel from Anita Kushwaha about the ties that bind mothers and daughters together and the secrets that tear them apart

Veena, Mala and Nandini are three very different women with something in common. Out of love, each bears a secret that will haunt her life—and that of her daughter—when the risk of telling the truth is too great. But secrets have consequences. Particularly to Asha, the young woman on the cusp of adulthood who links them together.

On the day after her eighteenth birthday, Asha is devastated to learn that she was adopted as a baby. What’s more, her birth mother died of a mysterious illness shortly before then, leaving Asha with only a letter.

Nandini, Asha’s adoptive mother, has always feared the truth would come between them.

Veena, a recent widow, worries about her daughter Mala’s future. The shock of her husband’s sudden death leaves her shaken and convinces her that the only way to keep her daughter safe is to secure her future.

Mala struggles to balance her dreams and ambition with her mother’s expectations. She must bear a secret, the burden of which threatens her very life.

Three mothers, bound by love, deceit and a young woman who connects them all. Secret Lives of Mothers and Daughters is an intergenerational novel about family, duty and the choices we make in the name of love.