ARC Review: A House for Happy Mothers: A novel by Amulya Malladi

Release Date: June 1, 2016
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Format: Kindle
Pages: 316 pages
Genre: Womens Fiction
Buy: Kindle | Paperback

Synopsis: 

In trendy Silicon Valley, Priya has everything she needs—a loving husband, a career, and a home—but the one thing she wants most is the child she’s unable to have. In a Southern Indian village, Asha doesn’t have much—raising two children in a tiny hut, she and her husband can barely keep a tin roof over their heads—but she wants a better education for her gifted son. Pressured by her family, Asha reluctantly checks into the Happy Mothers House: a baby farm where she can rent her only asset—her womb—to a childless couple overseas. To the dismay of friends and family, Priya places her faith in a woman she’s never met to make her dreams of motherhood come true.

Together, the two women discover the best and the worst that India’s rising surrogacy industry has to offer, bridging continents and cultures to bring a new life into the world—and renewed hope to each other.

Review: 

This is a powerful and timely book.  As surrogacy becomes more popular, and less expensive overseas, this book looks at the emotions involved.  Priya is very believable as a woman who has undergone tremendous grief in her attempt to have a child.  Now desperate she turns to her native country, convincing herself that she is helping a family out of poverty.  Asha, is a mother who is desperate to provide for her young son.  She feels trapped in a situation that really has no good alternative, so she turns to surrogacy.  Her emotions are a rollercoaster of desperation, love, hate, and acceptance.  Through this process both women must face difficult truths and also start to really appreciate what they have.

This book reminds me very much of Jodi Picoult books in that it gives you a scenario showing both sides and a lot of hard choices.  Malladi's peak inside the Home for Happy Mothers really puts surrogacy overseas into perspective.  For good or bad is up to you to decide but it really makes you think.

I really loved this book, the writing was beautiful and the story captivating.  A great read, definitely a good choice for a book club or a discussion group.

Disclaimer: Book was received from the publisher through netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.