Is love alone enough to raise a child or does someone need the means to give that child a better life? Lucky Boy is the story about two unforgettable women in Northern California: an undocumented Mexican woman and an Indian-American wife. Both are bound together by their love for the same boy.
The novel weaves together the themes of motherhood, immigration, infertility, adoption and minority life in America. It’s also a story about California and a larger portrait of what the state looks like now – who does the work and who has the power.
A native of author California, Shanthi Sekaran was inspired by her own upbringing as a child of immigrants, by the news stories she was hearing about undocumented mothers losing their children when they were put into detention centers, and by living in Berkeley, a place that for all of its progressiveness is also incredibly privileged.
Shanthi Sekaran teaches creative writing at California College of the Arts, and is a member of the Portuguese Artists’ Colony and the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto.