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very short span of time, in a very indirect way. Some­
times it takes just one person to make us feel seen, heard, 
understood and loved. This can carry us through life, 
through all its struggles and disappointments, and for­
tify us in a way that makes us feel secure in all our future 
relationships. The bond that Eddie and Daphne share is 
a rare find, strengthened by a single traumatic event that 
occurred in the past and bound them together in mutual 
tragedy. The author invites us to stay with the quiet, ob­
serve the complex tangle of family and relationships and 
accept what it is, rather than fight it or wish for some­
thing else. As the layers are peeled back, we see a family 
that is trying its best, whole or broken, of people who 
carry the burden of their past but move forward with an open heart, who find love and 
kindness where least expected and don’t dwell on regrets. Instead, they choose to focus 
on the present and what’s been given to them, because the real gift is in recognizing 
the space carved in their heart, even when the person was not walking alongside them. 
We are all made of our own thoughts, choices, actions and experiences, but also of 
the people who raised, shaped and inspired us. In that sense, we are all really the same 
material. I invite you to be enveloped in the warmth of this book, like a comforting 
blanket, and see how these soft-spoken, well-meaning characters make space for each 
other in their changing family fabric, even as what they call home gets redefined with 
time, even as it remains the place where they are loved for who they are. 
Shattered by Hanif Kureishi
Ecco Books, February 2025
Although this is not a recent book, I thought of it because I am still recovering from 
a surgery for my right hand that left me incapacitated in many ways these past few 
months. Now imagine this author, a contemporary of Rushdie and the author of Bud­
dha of Suburbia and the screenwriter for My Beautiful Laundrette, rendered instantly 
paralyzed by a sudden fall in December 2022, unable to move or control any part of 
his body from the neck down. This memoir is a series of diary entries dictated to his 
then girlfriend and now wife, Isabella, and his three sons. It is an honest, unflinching 
narrative of his life in the confines of several hospital rooms, starting with the one in 
Rome, where he fell. It is not groundbreaking or lofty. On the contrary there are por­
tions that are too raw and crude. But for a person who 
can now only talk and breathe, the surrender is stark 
– to all the unavoidable indignities, to the loss of his 
identity, the humiliation of complete dependence on 
caregivers and his unrestrained anger and disbelief at 
first that recedes into depression, remorse and regret. 
With time stretching out infinitely before him, we are 
privy to his overworking mind’s innermost thoughts, 
where he does not like what he sees of himself in the 
past as a self-centered, spoiled and unkind rebel. He 
does not attempt to romanticize or be preachy with 
some profound life lessons. He keeps it very real. There 
are many instances of bodily elimination descriptions 
that I did not personally care for. I have a newfound respect for nurses and hospital/
hospice staff for what they do. Deprived of touch, movement, freedom to experience 
the simple joys of sunshine and fresh air, Kureishi reflects in gratitude on the goodwill 
of so many people who constantly visit, engage in conversation and bring news from 
the outside world. He also stays resilient even as his mood plummets and soars alter­
natively through sleepless nights, motor exercises in rehab, loss of friends and being 
shuttled around different hospitals in his hometown of London. Is it earth shattering? 
No, but it is engaging, funny, thought provoking and irreverent at times. I think I 
could learn to be patient with my immobile hand after all. 
Anu Mahadev proudly identifies as a book nerd and bookmark collector. She 
prefers physical books to the Kindle and still fails to follow the plot in an audio­
book without missing her exit. If you’d like to share your thoughts on these books, 
or your favorite contemporary family-themed books that moved you or anything 
else, please feel free to email her at amahadev@me.com.   
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