A House For Happy Mothers by Amulya Malladi

A House For Happy Mothers by Amulya Malladi–328 pages

ARC courtesy of author

Book Blurb:

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.

My Review: 3.5 stars

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The title A House For Happy Mothers leads to so many variations of what this book could be about. Never did I think it would be about a home for surrogate mothers, nor did I even know this type of thing existed. Perhaps that was the most compelling part of the book.

This concept fascinated me and I didn’t know whom I felt worse for: the helplessness of the barren women or the dirt-poor women who became surrogates for money. I found myself thinking about surrogacy in a different light as the women at the “house” waited to give birth.

In this story, I felt bad for Priya’s inability to carry a child, but I really didn’t like her. I found her needy, over-anxious and bothersome, yet I was equally intrigued with her troubled relationship with her own mother. I do wish Malladi had explored this more and given Priya more depth. Asha, on the other hand, was the stronger character in my opinion. As she dealt with giving up this baby, she also gained mutual respect and tenderness with her husband, which is not common in stereotypical Indian culture.

The plethora of unusual Indian names made this book feel character heavy; names of friends, friend’s spouses, friend’s children, siblings and cousins, which became taxing at times. But I realized soon into it was only a certain few I had to keep track of. This book reads like chick-lit, fast paced with a high appeal to women.

I finished the book and immediately did a Google search for homes for surrogate mothers and unbeknownst to me, places like this are thriving in India. I was shocked. I’m hoping 60 Minutes or another show like it would do a story on this! Or maybe the one that happened in the book is based on reality? Hmm, I’ll have to email the author to find out. This subject matter would make for a good book club discussion!

As an aside, this author wrote one my favorite books, A Breath Of Fresh Air, which I definitely suggest reading as well! Besides being an author, Malladi is an amazing painter, works full time, is a foodie to follow, mom, wife and calls into book clubs at all hours of the night from Copenhagen. I don’t know how she does it!