Stephanie Jane reviewed A House for Happy Mothers by Deepa Samuel
An intriguing book club suggestion!
4 stars
As a non-maternal woman I wasn't sure how I would get on reading a book about babies! I am interested in the moral dilemma of paid surrogacy though and found A House For Happy Mothers to be a fascinating insight with compelling perspectives from both sides. Malladi takes time to show us all aspects of her characters and their families, their motives for undertaking surrogacy and the reactions from their friends and families. The irony of the title nicely sums up the whole novel as no one, with the possible exception of the profiteering doctor, seems happy at all and I am still as undecided about the issue now as I was before I started reading, but at least now I feel much better informed. Asha should have the right to be paid to be a surrogate mother if she chooses to, but is it really a free choice when …
As a non-maternal woman I wasn't sure how I would get on reading a book about babies! I am interested in the moral dilemma of paid surrogacy though and found A House For Happy Mothers to be a fascinating insight with compelling perspectives from both sides. Malladi takes time to show us all aspects of her characters and their families, their motives for undertaking surrogacy and the reactions from their friends and families. The irony of the title nicely sums up the whole novel as no one, with the possible exception of the profiteering doctor, seems happy at all and I am still as undecided about the issue now as I was before I started reading, but at least now I feel much better informed. Asha should have the right to be paid to be a surrogate mother if she chooses to, but is it really a free choice when her family would otherwise live in such poverty? Priya and Madhu couldn't have a child who is genetically their own any other way, but when so many babies face growing up without any semblance of family, isn't adoption a more socially valuable choice? Is having that genetic link worth all this emotional upheaval?
I thoroughly enjoyed reading A House For Happy Mothers right up until the last couple of pages where the prose suddenly becomes unrealistically schmaltzy for the sake of a happy ending. The synopsis is wrong in that the women, Priya and Asha, aren't in this 'together', but I appreciated reading their views of Asha's pregnancy and what the outcome would mean for each of them. Malladi manages to make both circumstances utterly convincing and I always wanted to find out what would happen even though I didn't agree with everything that was said or thought. I would definitely suggest A House For Happy Mothers as a great Book Club choice as there would be a lot to consider and discuss, although I could see discussions getting heated!
