September 28, 2023:

Donate

The Family Took Shape

The Family Took Shape

The Family Took Shape

You can dream all you like about the family you want,but you can’t take on life without the family you have.

When Mira Acharya’s father dies, the challenges facing her Indo-Canadian family become that much more daunting. Ravi, her autistic older brother, requires special care but longs to be just like other children. Their mother must work full time to keep a roof over their heads and still make time to be a
parent to an over-achiever and a developmentally challenged child. As much as Mira loves her mother and brother, she resents the situations in which living with them places her.

It is only when Mira is older that she realizes a truth she has been missing all along: though her family’s experience may be unusual, what holds them together—has always held them together—is universal. Shashi Bhat’s debut novel, The Family Took Shape, is a touching, hilarious, and endearingly honest story about one unique family’s search for happiness in Canadian suburbia.

About the author

Shashi Bhat

Shashi Bhat

Shashi Bhat is the author of two books of fiction, most recently The Most Precious Substance on Earth (McClelland & Stewart). She won the 2018 Journey Prize, has appeared in Best Canadian Stories, is editor-in-chief of EVENT magazine, and teaches creative writing at Douglas College.

Browse Other Books

Donate today

Support Canadian literature

Help preserve and promote Canadian writers by contributing to Real Vancouver. Your donation helps us run our events and provide writers with resources, mentorship, and opportunities to grow their craft.