Publisher's Weekly and Others Review New Women's Fiction

Title – The Unexpected Son
Author – Shobhan Bantwal
Genre or category –Women’s Fiction, Cultural Fiction, Women’s Issues
ISBN-10: 0758232039
ISBN-13: 978-0758232038



About The Unexpected Son

What happens when a woman who’s realized her dreams wakes up to a shocking truth? It is a morning like any other in suburban New Jersey when Vinita Patil opens the battered envelope postmarked “Mumbai.” But the letter inside turns her comfortable world upside down. It tells Vinita an impossible story: she has a grown son in India whose life may depend on her.

Once upon a time, a naive young college girl fell for a wealthy boy whose primary interests were cricket and womanizing. Vinita knew, even then, that a secret affair with a man whose language and values were different from her own was a mistake. He finished with her soon enough—leaving her to birth a baby that was stillborn. Or so Vinita was told.

Now that child is a grown man in desperate need. How will she confess her secret past to her arranged-marriage husband and her grown daughter? Nonetheless, to help her son, to know him, Vinita must revisit her darkest hours by returning to her battle-scarred homeland—and pray for the faith of the family she leaves behind.

About Shobhan Bantwal

Shobhan Bantwal calls her writing “Bollywood in a Book,”romantic, colorful, action-packed tales, rich with elements of Indian culture — stories that entertain and educate.

Her writing career is a “menopausal epiphany,” because she took up creative writing at the age of 50. By day Shobhan works for the government. In the evenings and on weekends she slips into her writer’s cape and flies off to Authorland. She loves writing stories about her native India and Hindu culture.

To date, Shobhan has four published novels by Kensington Publishing, with a fifth slated for 2011. Since 2002, Shobhan's articles and short stories have appeared in a variety of publications including The Writer magazine, India Abroad, Little India, U.S. 1, Desi Journal, India Currents, Overseas Indian, New Woman India, and Sulekha. Her short stories have won honors and awards in fiction contests sponsored by Writer's Digest, New York Stories and New Woman magazines. Her award-winning stories are available for reading on her website.

Shobhan can also be contacted through her website: www.shobhanbantwal.com

What Reviewers are saying about The Unexpected Son:

"This inspiring testament to a mother's enduring love makes for a fascinating tale and provides a window into an equally fascinating culture."
~~~~ Publisher's Weekly

"The Unexpected Son by Shobhan Bantwal is yet another crosscultural delight by this author."
~~~~Chicago Examiner - 5 stars

"Shobhan Bantwal is a magical storyteller. The characters are so tangible that you miss them when you finish reading The Unexpected Son."
~~~~Book Pleasures - 5 stars

"... a page-turner ... a moving story that flooded my heart with emotions and crowded my mind with endless questions."
~~~~Coffee Time Romance - 5 cups

This excellent contemporary provides strong insight into the Indian-American culture ... The Unexpected Son is a super Indian-American tale.
~~~~Harriet Klausner - 5 stars

"This enchanting, heartbreaking, but uplifting tale was impossible to put down ... extremely well-written book that will grab you at page one." ~~~~Romance Reviews Today - Perfect 10

Topics In The Unexpected Son by Shobhan Bantwal –
• Indian culture
• Dark secrets that can affect a relationship/marriage
• Arranged marriage
• Women’s issues in India
• Imperfect heroes (mine has many flaws)
• College romances that crash and burn
• Family ties
• Male oriented cultures
• Broken promises
• Mother-son relationship
• Mothers and Sons
• Indian Immigrant Culture in the U.S.
• Pre-marital affairs in a conservative culture
• Illegitimate children and their impact on marriage
• Male-dominated cultures.



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