I wasn't aware that surrogacy was big business in India, so this book was quite enlightening. However, although it's called The House of Hidden Mothers, we actually barely enter that house and a large part of the narrative occurs in the UK, which seemed a bit 'off-topic'.
Other characters do spend a fair bit of time in India though, and the battle to repossess the grandparents' house was unbelievably tied up with bribery and corruption, which reminded me of a book I read recently: Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo.

Shyama, an Indian living in UK, has a teenage daughter, Tara, from her first marriage, but is desperate to have a child with her younger partner, Toby. As she is unable to conceive, they decide to go to India and find a surrogate mother. The child is to have Toby's genes, and an egg from a donor. Mala, an impoverished village girl, is paid to carry the child for them and to do so, she must leave her village and stay in the Mothers' House.
If the story had revolved around life in the Mothers' House as we are led to expect, I think I would have enjoyed this more, but the fact that Mala travels back to the UK with Shyama and Toby just didn't ring true and I found this a less than convincing plot line, with an ultimately unsatisfying conclusion.

Towards the end there is a third thread that involves Tara becoming involved in womens' rights in a newly aware India. Although interesting, this did seem a bit unnecessary to the plot.
And why do Indian writers have to use so many Indian words, which readers in English are going to find largely unintelligible?

A reasonably enjoyable read, but recommended with reservations.

Just the other day I commented to my Mammy that you don't see enough of of Meera Syal these days. She's been in the second series of Broadchurch (which is worth watching just for Olivia Coleman calling David Tennant a wanker. Honestly, I could listen to that all day) but other than that she's been off my radar.

If you aren't a pleb who lives in a field, you'll know she's been doing theatre and various other marvellous things including earning a CBE for services to drama and literature. The House of Hidden Mothers is her third novel and her first this century. I read her first, Anita and Me, when I was at University and loved it - it's now on the GCSE syllabus.

So I'm very excited to have this ARC - provided by RandomHouse/Transworld/Doubleday via Netgalley - and there will be a review closer to its release date: 4th June 2015. Thanks PR peoples!