Secret Daughter

“Whether she was drowned, suffocated, or simply left to starve, Kavita hoped only that death came quickly, mercifully. In the end, her tiny body would have been buried, her spirit not even granted the release of cremation. Like so many baby girls, her first-born would be returned to the earth long before her time.” 

Secret Daughter opens with a traumatic event in Kavita’s life: having Jasu, her husband, facilitate the infanticide of her first-born child. In this passage, we see the kinds of horrific considerations that Kavita must make, hoping that death “came quickly.” This passage also evidences how Kavita must remain silent and submissive: She cannot ask how her daughter died, she must simply accept and move forward with her husband’s wishes. This traumatic event scars and shapes the course of Kavita’s life, while also showing the dynamic of relations with Jasu.  

“Maybe this is nature's way of telling her something. Maybe I'm just not meant to be a mother.” 

Somer’s struggle with infertility plants the seed of doubt in her mind that she is not destined to be a mother. This doubt is so powerful that it takes the entire book—a lifetime, really—for Somer to overcome it. The path to motherhood, as evidenced through both Somer’s and Kavita’s stories, is not always straightforward, and biology doesn’t necessarily define “family.” 

“Usha is Kavita’s choice alone, a secret name for her secret daughter. The thought brings a smile to her face.” 

Names and naming are a motif throughout Secret Daughter. Bestowing a name upon another person, place, or thing confers power in the entity giving that name. In Chapter 5, while Kavita may be forced to give her daughter up for adoption, due to cultural forces beyond her control (including the necessity of her submission to her