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Dr. Shah graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Biochemistry and a minor in Philosophy. He went on to earn an M.D. and is currently a Nephrologist in private practice in Texas.
Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
My Mother’s Son by Dr. Dar B. Shah is the author's life experiences that harken back to India on a path that carries him across continents and into medicine, framed by the presence of his mother. The memoir presents early family life, relocation to America, and the demands of training in hospitals, while his mother’s breast cancer later places him at the intersection of caregiving and clinical duty. Ideas about purpose, duty, mortality, and the promises of the American dream arise through the events that shaped their lives. As her illness advances, their shared history offers a way to consider how people form identity through experience and inheritance. The memoir leans deeply into the lasting mark of the woman who shaped his earliest years and influenced the direction of his future.
My Mother’s Son: Musings on Life and Loss by Dr. Dar B. Shah is a really touching and sweeping memoir that moves from carefree mango-filled evenings in India to the shift in mood that followed the family’s move to the United States. Shah’s account of his mother hauling two children through the chaos of selling their home, then later working long hours in unfamiliar jobs, gives the memoir a strong emotional center. His description of applying to medical school while realizing that systems he once trusted did not treat him fairly adds another striking turn. The book is anchored by the devastating phone call about his mother’s breast cancer, which comes full circle and shows how years of discipline and hope collided with a diagnosis that no one expected. These moments form a thoughtful portrait of a family tested across continents and years.
