Why a Booktrail?
2000s: From India to America, a tale of love, loss and family ties
The Lost Daughter of India
What you need to know before your trail
When Caroline meets Kamal the attraction is instant. He’s enchanting, charismatic and she can’t wait to set up a new life with him in India. Both their families are against the union but Caroline is convinced they’ll come round, especially when she gives birth to a beautiful daughter, Asha.
Asha is an adorable child but Caroline, homesick and beginning to hate the remote Indian village they live in, struggles with motherhood. Kamal is hardly ever there and she feels more and more isolated. In the grips of severe depression Caroline flees back to America, leaving Asha behind.
Ten years later …
Caroline recovered from her illness, is consumed by thoughts of the daughter she abandoned. Desperate to find Asha, she reunites with Kamal, intent on tracking her down. Will they ever be able to find their lost daughter? If they have any chance, they must confront the painful truths of the past and a terrible secret that has been kept for many years, until now.
Travel Guide
Sharon Maas talks location:
Like the characters in the novel I too walked the streets of Kamathipura, spoke to some of the prostitutes, went into the brothels – and yes, they are the hellholes as described in the novel.
Dr Ganotra in the novel is based on Dr Gilada, a Mumbai doctor who has been working in the red light district of Mumbai for decades, and who in fact is mainly responsible for the reforms that have been conducted there since the story of Tulasa broke. Tulasa, as described in the novel, was a real girl, abducted from Nepal, sold into the sex trade, and then rescued by Dr Gilada and his team. It’s her story that helped to change things.
Nothing can prepare a Westerner for the utter horror of such a life. We really cannot fully absorb it, and in fact the novel is by definition a very sanitized version of the reality. The reality is far, far worse – to wrap your mind around it would be to despair of humanity itself.
Trail Gallery
Booktrailer Review
Susan: @thebooktrailer
Sharon Maas is a unique writer and one who really puts extra and more into each and every book.
This is as evocative and atmospheric as ever. Heartbreaking on so many levels and there are some difficult subjects examined here. Child trafficking has to be one of the most heartbreaking issues ever and this book made me sad and realise just how the problem takes hold and festers. Having the story set in India, the fight to get the little girl back was an education and really well written – it will more than make your realise the horrors which exist in the world, often in plain sight. I did find some of it very upsetting but then that’s the point and it does make you think.
On a more positive note, the novel is all about sight, sound and smell once again. It’s a painting of colour, action and aromas of India. A scene I remember is when Kama is hiding inside a hamper – what a ,memorable and evocative scene!
Sharon always managed to carefully weave in the cultural and historical background of the country her stories are based in.
When the nanny reads the Mahabharatha to the young girl, I was as entranced as she was.
Sharon is a very visual writer. She paints each and every scene with care and attention. The result is a rich tapestry of a novel and a worth read on any shelf.
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information: The Lost Daughter of India
Author/Guide: Sharon Maas Destination: Cambridge (MA) Mumbai, Gujarat Departure Time: 1970s, 2000s
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