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What the Family Needed

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( 1,098 ratings, 182 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
What the Family Needed by Steven Amsterdam delves into the lives of a unique family, where each member possesses a subtle, supernatural power that surfaces during pivotal moments. As their stories unfold across various timelines, these magical abilities help them confront, navigate, and sometimes alter their personal challenges and familial relationships. The narrative intricately explores themes of love, connection, and the complexities of family dynamics.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$8100

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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you are intrigued by stories that explore the dynamics of family life through unique and magical lenses. It interlaces elements of magical realism with human relationships, offering a fresh take on familial connections that deepen and transform over time. Fans of character-driven narratives with a touch of mysticism will find this read captivating and thought-provoking.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

"Okay, tell me which do you want: to be able to fly or to be invisible?"

What if every now and then, the people in your family woke up with a special power? Over the span of 30 years, we are invited into the secrets of one very unique family, from a mystified teenager to an over-tired night nurse to a conflicted exile. The surprising strengths they each find show them how to change their lives — and what the family needs in order to survive.

What the Family Needed is described as "imaginative, intelligent, empathetic... Like a cross between The Corrections and The Slap." - Sydney Morning Herald

"To tell you the narrative concerns a family whose members have superpowers is only to graze the surface of a moving and beautifully realised meditation on what it is to be an ordinary human being." - The Australian

"Grade: A... At once magical and very normal, a wishful fantasy about the strength it can take to love one's family members well." - Entertainment Weekly

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

What the Family Needed by Steven Amsterdam is praised for its imaginative blend of family drama with elements of magic realism, creating a narrative that feels both fantastical and relatable. Critics appreciate its empathetic and intelligent exploration of familial love and relationships. The novel offers multiple readings, allowing readers to enjoy its depth and versatility, with some noting the author’s ability to portray ordinary life as both familiar and intriguingly unsettling.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780733636295

Publisher: Hachette Australia

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 26 July 2016

Country: Australia

Imprint: Hachette Australia

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 22.0mm

Width: 128.0mm

Height: 197.0mm

Weight: 260g

Pages: 272

About the Author

Steven Amsterdam is the award-winning author of THINGS WE DIDN'T SEE COMING (winner of the AGE BOOK OF THE YEAR, shortlisted for the NSW Premier's Award for Fiction and longlisted for The Guardian First Book Award) and WHAT THE FAMILY NEEDED (AWW Great Read and longlisted for the Dublin IMPAC literary award). He lives in Melbourne with his partner where he works as a palliative care nurse.

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