Beginning ~ with an arbitration

The Golden Son ~ by Shilpi Somaya Gowda, 2016, fiction (India), 9/10

"Anil Patel was ten years old the first time he witnessed one of Papa's arbitrations.  Children usually were not allowed at these meetings, but an exception was made for Anil since he would, one day, inherit his father's role."

I'm late getting this posted, so I've already finished this novel set in India and in a fictitious hospital in Texas where Anil Patel was doing his internship to be a doctor.

The first of his family to go to college, Anil Patel, the golden son, carries the weight of tradition and his family’s expectations when he leaves his tiny Indian village to begin a medical residency in Dallas, Texas, at one of the busiest and most competitive hospitals in America.  When his father dies, Anil becomes the de facto head of the Patel household and inherits the mantle of arbiter for all of the village’s disputes.  But he is uneasy with the custom, uncertain that he has the wisdom and courage demonstrated by his father and grandfather.  His doubts are compounded by the difficulties he discovers in adjusting to a new culture and a new job, challenges that will shake his confidence in himself and his abilities.

Back home in India, Anil’s closest childhood friend, Leena, struggles to adapt to her demanding new husband and relatives.  Arranged by her parents, the marriage shatters Leena’s romantic hopes, and eventually forces her to make a desperate choice that will hold drastic repercussions for herself and her family.  Though Anil and Leena struggle to come to terms with their identities thousands of miles apart, their lives eventually intersect once more — changing them both and the people they love forever.

Would I recommend this book?  Yes, indeed.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays.  Click here for today's Mister Linky.