The Most Precious Substance on Earth

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By Shashi Bhat

Publisher Description

Journey Prize winner Shashi Bhat’s "powerful, surprising and terrifying" (Rufi Thorpe) story about a high school student's traumatic experience and how it irrevocably alters her life, for fans of 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl, Girlhood, and Pen15.

Bright, hilarious, and sensitive fourteen-year-old Nina spends her spare time reading Beowulf and flirting with an internet predator. She has a vicious crush on her English teacher, and her best friend Amy is slowly drifting away. Meanwhile, Nina’s mother tries to match her up with local Indian boys unfamiliar with her Saved by the Bell references, and Nina’s worried father has started reciting Hindu prayers outside her bedroom door. Beginning with a disturbing incident at her high school, The Most Precious Substance on Earth tells stories of Nina’s life from the ‘90s to present day, when she returns to the classroom as a high school teacher with a haunting secret and discovers that the past is never far behind her.

Darkly funny, deeply affecting, unsettling, and at times even shocking, Shashi Bhat’s irresistible novel-in-stories examines the relationships between those who take and those who have something taken. The Most Precious Substance on Earth is a sharp-edged and devastating look at how women are conditioned to hide their trauma and suppress their fear, loneliness, and anger, and an unforgettable portrait of how silence can shape a life.

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The Most Precious Substance on Earth Reviews

3.0

Erika Neustadt

Created about 1 month ago

annalisa mascioli

Created about 2 months ago

Katie 💕

Created about 2 months ago

eves

Created 3 months ago

“𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬. ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙨 𝙞 𝙙𝙤 𝙚𝙣𝙟𝙤𝙮, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵. 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝙎𝙊 𝙈𝘼𝙉𝙔 𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙟𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙙𝙤 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘶𝘱, 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘱 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥. 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙙, 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘵, 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙥 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 10 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 2 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴. 𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙮 𝙩𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙨, 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴, 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙮 𝙩𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙘 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙪𝙥 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙚𝙛𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴. ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘊'𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘹𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺, 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘮, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘐 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦. “ 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 , 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘬𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 “ “ 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 , 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 . 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 , 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 “”

Diverse representation Likeable Morally ambiguous Disjointed Loose ends Plot holes Unsatisfying conclusion Bland/generic Boring prose Dense Hard to follow Eating disorders Sexual assault Substance abuse Violence

JenLeePaq

Created 3 months ago

About Shashi Bhat

Shashi Bhat’s fiction has won the Writers’ Trust / McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize and been shortlisted for a National Magazine Award and the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers. Her stories have appeared in such publications as The Threepenny Review, The Missouri Review, The Fiddlehead, The Malahat Review, The New Quarterly, subTerrain, Best Canadian Stories 2018 and 2019, and The Journey Prize Stories 24 and 30. Her debut novel, The Family Took Shape, was a finalist for the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award. Shashi holds an MFA in fiction from the Johns Hopkins University. She lives in New Westminster, BC, where she is the editor-in-chief of EVENT magazine and teaches creative writing at Douglas College.