First Chapter, First Paragraph & Teaser Tuesday: Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda

First chapter, first paragraph, is a meme hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea.

Secret Daughter, a novel, is the first book I’ve read by Shilpi Somaya Gowda.  The story takes place in a remote village in India and in the U.S.  Here’s the first paragraph from part one, chapter one:

Dawn of Mourning          Dahanu, India — 1984        Kavita

She came to the abandoned hut at dusk, without a word to anyone, when she felt the first unmistakable pulls deep within her.  It is vacant, except for the mat on which she now lies, knees drawn up to her chest.  As the next wave of pain shudders through her body, Kavita digs her nails into clenched palms and bites down on the tree branch between her teeth. Her breathing is heavy but even as she waits for the tightness to ease in her swollen belly.  She steadies her gaze on the pale yellow shadow on the mud floor, cast by a flickering oil lamp, her sole company in the dark hours of night. She has been trying to muffle her cries until it is unbearable to do so anymore. Soon, she knows, with the urge to push, her screams will beckon the village midwife. She prays the baby is born before dawn, for her husband rarely awakens before sunrise. It is the first of only two prayers Kavita dares to have for this child, wary of asking too much from the gods.

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!  Here’s my teaser from the same book:

The first thing Somer sees when she opens her eyes is the IV stand next to her bed. She shuts them again quickly, hoping to recapture the dream about pushing a baby in a playground swing.

What are you reading?  Share a teaser!

Don’t forget to enter the raffle for a free copy of Death of a Nurse by M.C. Beaton.  Click the link in the sidebar after leaving a comment on my post with the advance review of the latest in this Hamish Macbeth mystery series.