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What is the true price of the American Dream?

It’s a perfect night in Pacific Hills, California. Priya and Ashok Shah are attending a dinner party welcoming them to this neighborhood of gated communities, ocean views, and well-tended lawns. Their seventeen-year-old daughter, unbeknownst to them, is attending a protest on the Mexican border. Their fourteen-year-old daughter is spending the night with her wealthy new friend. And their twelve-year-old son has just gotten arrested.

Priya and Ashok came to the United States as immigrants and have worked their entire lives to live in a community like Pacific Hills. But over the next two weeks, as the Shah family navigates an alarming new landscape of police, lawyers, reporters and neighbors, some welcoming and others chilly, each member will ask themselves:  what is the cost of ambition?

A Great Country explores themes of immigration, generational conflict, social class and privilege as it reconsiders the myth of the model minority and questions the price of the American dream.

What is the true price of the American Dream? 

It’s a perfect night in Pacific Hills, California. Priya and Ashok Shah are attending a dinner party welcoming them to this neighborhood of gated communities, ocean views, and well-tended lawns. Their seventeen-year-old daughter, unbeknownst to them, is attending a protest on the Mexican border. Their fourteen-year-old daughter is spending the night with her wealthy new friend. And their twelve-year-old son has just gotten arrested.

Priya and Ashok came to the United States as immigrants and have worked their entire lives to live in a community like Pacific Hills. But over the next two weeks, as the Shah family navigates an alarming new landscape of police, lawyers, reporters and neighbors, some welcoming and others chilly, each member will ask themselves:  what is the cost of ambition?

A Great Country explores themes of immigration, generational conflict, social class and privilege as it reconsiders the myth of the model minority and questions the price of the American dream.

Reviews

“With engrossing dialogue and a premise that would (and should) translate well to a prestige television series … A Great Country takes a familiar narrative of cultural assimilation and infuses it with domestic suspense.”
— Elle Magazine, Best Fiction of 2024

“With vivid characters and an absorbing plot, A Great Country asks important questions about race, class and what it really means to “make it” in the U.S. today.”
— Real Simple, Best Books of 2024

“Gowda’s engrossing fourth novel … was very well executed. The story is continuously compelling, and uses various points of view to show how a misunderstanding can happen. Gowda presents each character’s viewpoint thoroughly, delving into their histories and making a case for why they believe what they do.”
— Conde Nast Traveler, Books to Read on Your Winter Getaway

“A timely read that will leave you with lots to think about.”
— Chatelaine Magazine, Best Books Spring 2024

“Gowda’s scorching latest … chronicles an Indian American family’s complex and varied attitudes toward class and racial divides in Southern California … Her light touch is refreshing and graced with nuance, allowing her to find the truth in a wide range of perspectives. Readers won’t want to put this down.”
— Publishers’ Weekly, Starred Review

“Gowda grippingly explores a family's life turned upside down over a two-week period … [She] skillfully weaves her narrative … Gowda's storytelling prowess shines through in this emotionally charged tale of survival, understanding, and familial unity in the face of adversity.”
— Booklist

“Gowda is superb at plotting and pacing, and the book spirits readers along. At the same time we learn enough of the histories of her characters to slow down and understand their dilemmas and the deep emotional stress these events place the family under. We feel for them and we will continue to think about them. Which, really, is just about the best we can hope for from a good read.”
— BookPage

“Gowda’s narration is fast-paced, and she is gifted at building suspense.”
— Kirkus Reviews

ADVANCE PRAISE

“A deeply moving, layered portrait of the hopes, dreams and fears a family carries as ‘other’ in the face of the modern American Dream, where social currency and privilege threaten even the most basic of instincts: to protect one’s child at all costs. Shilpi Somaya Gowda has the incredible gift of telling poignant, empathetic stories that make us think differently about the world we live in, and A Great Country is no exception.”
— Ashley Audrain, New York Times bestselling author of The Push and The Whispers

“Shilpi has done it again with A Great Country — a tender, multi-layered meditation on family and community and how we find our way to belonging in both. The novel is also a poignant reminder that politics (and social justice) is always personal. I know other readers will fall as hard for the Shah family as I did and be enriched by the deep levels of empathy this engrossing story evokes.”
— Christine Pride,  author of GMA Book Club Pick We Are Not Like Them

"Poignant and propulsive, Shilpi Somaya Gowda's A Great Country grips you from the very first page and refuses to let you go. Filled with empathy and nuance, this thrilling exploration of immigration, the American Dream and the model minority myth will touch your heart and mind. A gorgeous read!"
—Jean Kwok, New York Times bestselling author of The Leftover Woman

“A bold and unapologetic read about the precariousness of one Indian-American family’s attempts to assimilate and how quickly and carelessly a model minority becomes just a minority. Gowda crafts a page turner seeped in observations about justice and injustice in this great country.”
— Vibhuti Jain, author of Our Best Intentions

“In A Great Country, Shilpi Somaya Gowda has crafted a moving story of an immigrant family's challenges in the wake of their son's troubling arrest. Each character and situation is drawn with heart and nuance, resulting in a masterful portrayal of the pressures on and prejudices of well-meaning people. Right and wrong, good and bad: if only life were so simple. This is a thought-provoking, truly worthwhile book.”
— Therese Anne Fowler, New York Times bestselling author of  A Good Neighborhood

"An Indian family finds their American dream upended in this powerful story about identity, roots, privilege and belonging, exploring the complicated question of what it means to belong in a country that strikes first, and asks questions later. Gowda creates a stirring and multilayered portrait of racial identity in America with family at its core." 
—Stacey Lee, New York Times bestselling author of Reese's Book Club pick The Downstairs Girl

“Shilpi Somaya Gowda deftly explores racial biases and class divides in this riveting, layered, and empathetic tale. Readers will feel deeply for the Shah family even as mistakes and miscalculations escalate, and convictions are challenged by real life. A Great Country is a timely, honest, and powerful story, and one that is sure to spark much discussion." 
— Michelle Gable, New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Apartment

Honors