I have so many thoughts and feelings about The House of Hidden Mothers by Meera Syal that it is hard to know where to begin. First, I’ll say that I really enjoyed this novel, more than I expected to. It is a triumph that tackles so many different issues faced by women in today’s world. As always, Syal writes with humour and grace that never belittles the experiences of her characters.
The main issue in The House of Hidden Mothers is surrogacy, especially when it is farmed out to less developed parts of the world. In the story, Shyama is a successful and divorced woman in her 40s who journeys to her native India to seek out a surrogate when IVF treatments fail. Mala is an unhappily married village woman who sees surrogacy as a way out of her confining life. Yes, their paths cross and yes it is fraught with conflict – personal, moral and societal.
The things I appreciated about Syal’s take on this, is that she presents the many shades of grey in the issue. At times I felt Shyama was doing the right thing, at other times it just seemed so exploitative. And this was true of all of the issues Syal took on in her book. Nothing was as straight forward as it seemed.
Lest you think The House of Hidden Mothers is a weighty and depressing tome, I can assure you it isn’t. Syal is known for her humour and that comes through. The female friendships were very a la Sex in the City, a pet peeve of mine, but it worked. It also served to bust some frequent stereotypes of South Asian women.
Who would like this book? This would be fine fodder for a feminist book club. The House of Hidden Mother is full of strong women making good and bad decisions, but owning them. There are issues of discrimination, sexism, ageism, class, race, medical tourism … you name it. But I also think the novel could reveal some harsh truths about your own thinking that you may not want to face. I’d put Meera Syal along side Elif Shafak as a writer who reveals the ups and downs of multiculturalism in London.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley for review consideration.
52 books or bust 
Haven’t heard of this one, but wow that sounds good! Adding to the pile now!
Unfortunately I don’t know if its been picked up by a North American publisher. Syal is a well known actress in the UK and has written a couple of other books.
Ooh, this sounds really thought-provoking!
I was completely drawn in by the title and the cover, and, wow, you make it sound so good – so many things to think about without being too heavy. On the list it goes!
This sounds so good! And that cover? Ridiculously gorgeous! I’ll be keeping my eyes open for this one 😀
All her books have a similar cover in the UK.
I would like this one, thanks! It might work for my diversity book club. We usually read about race in America and usually about the black / white divide — but we sometimes get to a slightly different and more interesting place on the occasions that we broaden our topic a bit.
This sounds a lot like The Story Hour by Thrity Umrigar, which makes me excited about it! The power disparity in the relationship between the women in this story and all the different social issues this highlights made for a great read.
That comparison didn’t come to me while I reading, but now that you’ve mentioned it, it seems quite apt.
I hadn’t heard of this one but I think I’d love reading about the surrogacy issue! I also love books set in India!
It’s mostly set in London, but India is a literary soft spot for me too.