First published 2023
Remy Wadia carries years of resentment when he returns to Bombay from America. He has come to adopt a baby from a pregnant girl, but he also faces seeing his elderly mother after years apart. He finds her hospitalized, silent, and seemingly ready to give up on life. Guilt hits him as he realizes how sick she has become without his knowledge. His presence revives her enough that she can return home. Then Remy discovers an old photograph that exposes family secrets hidden for decades. As his mother begins speaking again and the truth emerges, Remy must reconsider everything he believed about his childhood and parents. He stands on the edge of becoming a father himself while learning to forgive the human failures of those who raised him. The story reveals how people we love often make their best efforts in impossible circumstances.
Genres: fiction, family, adoption, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, second-chance
Setting: Bombay, America
Period: contemporary
366 pages · Kindle Edition · Algonquin Books