The Forgotten Daughter by Renita D’Silva

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This is one book that has surprised me with its content, writing style and just the evocative images that Renita D’Silva’s writing evokes. I picked the book due to its blurb about the changes the truth about being adopted would evoke.

I was fully prepared for it to be a tear jerker with the story from the point of view of a child but I was in for a pleasant surprise. This book is not about tears, loss or sadness. The Forgotten Daughter is a story about life, love and longing and a lot more. The author spins a sweetly worded tale of the quest of a daughter in search of her parents and a daughter looking for her mother.

All of this is through the eyes of three ladies, Nisha, Devi and Shilpa. The book moves through the thoughts and diaries of these three women and each presents their own side of the story, how they are involved yet separate. I found this extremely moving as page by page the story unfolded with each woman’s tone, language and thoughts being so different from the other. Initially I had thought that the father must be the reason of adoption, then I blamed the mother, eventually I blamed the sister.

Yet, Renita surprised me with the ending and the way the story progressed. I savored the soft, graceful language; descriptive yet emotive. She created images and evoked nostalgia with her words. Nisha, practical and technical one with her lists, numbers and reasons. Devi, the fiery one who spoke and lived with the anger she knew not how to snuff out. Shilpa, the demure one, love overflowing yet still inadequate.

Three ladies as different as can be and their men who we somehow exactly what they needed. This book renders a whole new meaning to fate and its mysterious ways. I enjoyed reading about the tenacity of life and how it manifests in the unlikely of times. The book has a steady flow, neither too fast nor slow with each chapter unraveling the mystery and bringing a family to where it must be.

I could go on and on but suffice to say I loved the book. If you are looking for a book with depth, a good solid story, a yearning to read how our world and life plays out in the mysterious ways, why we all surrender to a greater power this is a book for you. And a bitter sweet happy ending to boot!

This book is full of prose that evokes surreal visual imagery, words that connect to the heart and language that makes it a pleasure to read.  The Forgotten Daughter will find a place in your heart as a mother or daughter or sister as you will definitely find a reflection of yourself within its pages.

(I received a copy of the book from Fingerprint Publishing, the review is my own honest opinion.)

The Forgotten Daughter by Renita D’Silva

‘You were adopted’.
Three simple words, in a letter accompanying her parent’s will, tear Nisha’s carefully ordered world apart. Raised in England, by her caring but emotionally reserved parents, Nisha has never been one to take risks.

Now, with the scrawled address of an Indian convent begins a search for the mother and family she never knew and the awakening of childhood memories long forgotten.

The secrets, culture and people that Nisha discover will change her life forever. And, as her eyes are opened to a side of herself she didn’t know existed, Nisha realizes that she must also seek answers to the hardest question of all – why?

Weaving together the stories of Nisha, Shilpa and Devi, The Forgotten Daughter explores powerfully and poignantly the emotional themes of motherhood, loss and identity – ultimately asking the question of what you would do out of love for your children?

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