A Great Country by Shilpi Somaya Gowda (Bibliolifestyle Book Tour)

 

Thank you, Partner @bibliolifestyle @marinerbooks for the review copy of A Great Country by Shilpi Somaya Gowda.  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Have you ever moved to a new area, or do you live where you grew up?  I grew up in a small town in Michigan, but I now live in a small town in Wisconsin.  There are some differences and some similarities.

Another question, have you ever had something go wrong even though you’ve done everything correctly in life?  I feel like we’ve all had that moment where life suddenly goes wrong.  That is what happens for the Shah family in A Great Country.  They have moved to the prestigious Pacific Hills area in California and things seem to be going well for the family.  Suddenly one night, the Shah parents, Ashok, and Priya, receive a call while at a dinner party.  Their 12-year-old son has been arrested.  How can this be and how can they help their son?  How can this happen to model minorities?

My thoughts on this book:

·       Wow!  This book packed a lot of important and thoughtful topics in a relatively short book.  It would make an excellent book club pick and would provide a lot of discussion points.

·       I liked the thoughts on being a model minority and what that means.  The Shah family has been in the United States for twenty years, worked hard and built a successful business.  Does that protect them from being perceived in a biased manner?

·       This novel also turned bias around the other way.  Does the Shah family hold biased views against other groups?  What is the difference between them and another family who had their young son killed?

·       Do you need a new fancy house in a new fancy neighborhood to be successful?

·       It turns out that their 12-year-old son, Ajay, is on the spectrum.  Ashok does not want his son labeled and has not had him evaluated or tried to receive any help for him. Culturally he believes that children should be perfect. He thought things were fine until Ajay did not react the way the police think he should react.  I liked the thoughtful look into realizing that it is okay if your child has problems, and it is okay to get help for those problems.

·       As a mother, I thought this entire scenario was very scary, but also very important to think about.  Do you think, well, that will not happen to my children because they are of a certain ethnicity or a certain religion?  Is that okay?

·       I also liked the thoughtful look at the police.  Just like people, there are good and bad police.  And even the so called “bad police” may have had experiences that make them have certain bias or perceptions that they use to protect themselves. In this case, one of the police was a veteran that had seen young children used as weapons for terrorism in Afghanistan.

·       It had an interesting look at the caste system in modern day India and how that may trickle over into immigrants in America and how they treat others.

·       The ending was satisfactory to me, but I’m sure some will think it ends too tidy.

·       I have read and enjoyed Secret Daughter by this author in the past.  This reminds me that I should read her other novels.  She is an excellent author.

·       If you enjoyed reading Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, I highly recommend this novel.

Favorite Quotes:

“He’s at a tender age, your brother.  Losing his innocence.  Seeing the ugliness of the world.  But he’ll get through it. You all will.”

“An immigrant-rich country like ours makes for a complex fabric.  These are tricky things to navigate in our society, which is something Vikram’s learning as well.  We are all here too help you.”

Overall, A Great County by Shilpi Somaya Gowda is a book that I will think about for a long time.  It’s an important and timely read.