The Unexpected Son

Book excerpt: What happens when a woman who's realized her dreams wakes up to a shocking truth? Shobhan Bantwal's poignant new novel weaves a captivating tale of one woman's return to India: the place where she lost everything--and now has everything to gain... 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 a 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... Praise for Shobhan Bantwal and her novels... "Dazzles you with a taste of Desi culture in America." --Caridad Piñeiro, New York Times bestselling author on The Sari Shop Widow "Compelling and memorable." --Mary Jo Putney, New York Times bestselling author on The Forbidden Daughter "Vivid, rich...expertly portrays a young woman caught between love and duty, hope and despair." --Anjali Banerjee on The Dowry Bride