The Mother I Never Knew

Sudha Murty pairs two novellas, each following a man on a quest to find a mother he never knew he had. Venkatesh, a bank manager, stumbles across his own lookalike one day and uncovers his late father's hidden past - a first, abandoned wife and child - and sets out to make amends despite having no obligation to. Mukesh, meanwhile, discovers after his father's death that he was adopted, and finds himself torn between the woman who raised him and the biological mother he's never met. Told with Murty's characteristic warmth and emotional directness, this is a poignant look at family secrets, loyalty and what we really owe the people closest to us. A moving, quick read for fans of her fiction.