Don’t Let Him Know

All families are full of secrets, and the Mitras are no different. Romola Mitra, wife of Avinash, struggled with life in America and was only too happy to return to India after her husband finished school, especially after the arrival of a letter detailing one of Avinash’s secrets. Avinash is gay, always has been, and continues to struggle with that essential truth for his whole life, through marriage and after the birth of his own son. Amit, their son, eventually grows up and goes to America himself, but he continues to find himself torn between his past and his future.

Sandip Roy explores the stories of the members of the Mitra family in Don’t Let Him Know. What makes this book especially compelling is that it is a collection of short stories that go backward and forward in time, offering readers snapshots into the lives of these people. These stories are a mix of seriousness (marriages, deaths, questions about what could have been) and more humorous incidents (the accidental friendship Romola discovers while visiting the American town she lived in as a new bride, Romola’s recollections of a summer romance). This is a fantastic novel full of well-written, sympathetic characters.