Review | Lucky Boy explores the hope and heartbreak on both sides of the US immigration debate
Shanthi Sekaran – herself the child of immigrants to the US – dramatises a hot-button issue with her story of Soli and Kavya
by Shanthi Sekaran
G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Lucky Boy is a tale involving the immigrant experience. And it’s an exploration of motherhood, fertility and racism. It’s also a compelling and relevant read, given all that’s happening on Planet Trump.
Solimar – or Soli – and Kavya are both immigrants to the United States, but from different sides of the tracks. Soli is an undocumented Mexican and Kavya is an Indian-American living a comfortable life in Berkeley, California. Their stories converge over the “lucky boy” of the book’s title.
The burning question at the novel’s core is this: how can a woman justify taking another’s child as her own when the birth mother is willing and able to look after that child?
To answer that question, author Shanthi Sekaran – herself the daughter of Indian immigrants to the US – rolls up her sleeves and gets down to the nitty-gritty of relationships. No detail is too small to note. It’s getting under the skin of both people and place that is the real joy here.