"The Museum of Failures" by Thrity Umrigar

An audio book

Remy, 35, has flown from Ohio back home to Bombay to meet Janez's neice, Monaz. He plans to adopt her unborn child. He's been married for 15 years to a white American doctor, Kathy. He'd gone to the US to be a poet. His loving father died 3 years ago, and he hasn't visited his difficult mother since. He's bought a flat near his mother's for a couple of relatives so that they can care for her. He discovers that she's in hospital (perhaps electively mute and not eating). Monaz has changed her mind about handing the baby over.

He's Parsi, a shrinking minority. He meets up with Dina, an unmarried lawyer who, he suspects, had always wanted to marry his father. He's treated rather like a foreigner in India. He's noticed the increased xenophobia in the US. Monaz changes her mind again, insisting she wants to give birth in the states. He doesn't want to tell his mother about the adoption, nor does he want to tell her about Monaz coming to the US - because his mother had wanted to stay with them in the US. Kathy convinces him to tell his mother. He does, and Monaz gets on well with her. He begins to reconnect with his culture.

We go back to before Remy was born, from his mother's third-person PoV. Her first-born Syla was mentally disabled. The father was ashamed, and wanted a second child quickly. Remy is born. Syla punched and kicked Remy. Without fore-warning or permission, the father puts Syla in a care home. He claims that the mother has neglected Remy. She's allowed to visit Syla provided she didn't tell Remy. Syla died in a fire when he was little. His mother went into a mental home for a while after. When Remy is old enough for university, his father offers to pay so that he can study in the States. His mother says that if Remy leaves, she'll tell him about Syla. She delays, and when she sees how happy Kathy makes Remy, she decides to say nothing.

Remy tells people about his late brother. His father has turned from role model to the type of person Remy doesn't want to be. His mother turns out to have some good qualities. Remy insists that Monaz tells her strict father about the arrangement. Fearfully she does. Her father wants her to keep the baby, so he does. Monaz is grateful that Remy had made her tell her father. Remy decides that it's fate. Her mother arranges for him to see a 4 y.o. orphan. Remy thinks he's too shy at first, but finds a way to make the child relax.

The dilemmas - will Monaz give the child over? will Monaz tell her father? will Remy tell his mother about the adoption? will Remy tell people about his brother? - pile up after a while

• Jenny Maattala (there is a lack of unity throughout the first book. Although necessary to lay the foundation down for what is to come, at times the dialogue is redundant and monotonous)
• bookreporter.com (In getting to know and love his mother in an altered context, Remy starts to appreciate what is precious about his homeland. ... his stream of consciousness is more like a flood of self-observation. There isn’t a sight, sound, smell or person he doesn’t react to and analyze in minute detail. ... I also wondered about Remy’s unbelievably patient wife back in Columbus.)
• Mariam Tahir (Despite its many strengths, The Museum of Failures is not without its flaws. The novel occasionally belabours its political commentary, with pages full of reflections and inner monologue. ... Moreover, despite many beautiful passages, the dialogue sometimes feels forced, relying on clichéd metaphors that detract from the gripping plot.)