The Shape of Family - Shilpi Somaya Gowda

This is my first Shilpi Somaya Gowda novel, and now I’m going to add her other books to my TBR!

The Shape of Family is the story of the Olanders, a picture perfect American Dream style family living in California. Keith has his hard work and tenacity to thank for his well-paid investment banking job, Jaya grew up travelling the world with her Indian diplomat parents, and their kids Karina and Prem are about 8 years apart and seemingly well-adjusted to life. But then tragedy strikes and it breaks the family apart in ways that no one could anticipate.

The narrative takes place over time, hopping back to early days in Keith and Jaya’s relationship in 1988, but mainly staying along a line between 2007 to 2016. The narrative also contains 4 distinct voices (Keith, Jaya, Karina, and Prem), which provides the reader with viewpoints and perceptions from each character - this is super important and also very helpful, because meaningful communication between the family members becomes quasi non-existent, each member wrapped in their on personal journey. 

Shilpi Somaya Gowda’s writing felt nearly dreamlike to me - each sentence felt weightless but at the same time so meaningful, easy to read but undeniable beautiful. 

I related to Karina and the choices she makes in her life a lot. In a way I saw a lot of me as a teenager and a young adult, curling herself up around her trauma. I wanted to shake Jaya at times, but also understood her, and I felt as though Keith’s never fully followed through with his good intentions. Basically each character is relatable, flawed, and convincing. That’s what I loved the most about this novel - everything is just so believable, and a sign that things are often not the the way they seem on the outside.

I just want to hold this book to my heart and keep it there - it touched me so much in so many ways.

This is a solid 4.5 stars for me and I’m looking forward to discovering more of the author’s work! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.