Death By A Thousand Cuts by Shashi Bhat

What would have happened if she'd met him at a different time in her life, when she was older, more confident, less lonely, and less afraid? She wonders not whether they would have stayed together, but whether she would have known to stay away.

A writer discovers that her ex has published a novel about their breakup.An immunocompromised woman falls in love, only to have her body betray her. After her boyfriend makes an insensitive comment, a college student finds an experimental procedure that promises to turn her browneyes blue.A Reddit post about a man's habit of grabbing his girlfriend's breasts prompts a shocking confession. An unsettling second date leads to the testing of boundaries. And when a woman begins to lose her hair, she embarks on an increasingly nightmarish search for answers.

From the Governor General's Awardshortlisted author of The Most Precious Substance on Earth, Shashi Bhat's Death by a Thousand Cuts is a breathtaking and sharply funny collection about the everyday trials and impossible expectations that come with being a woman. With honesty, tenderness, and a skewering wit, these stories boldly wrestle with rage, longing, illness, and bodily autonomy, and their inescapable impacts on a woman's relationships with others and
with herself.(From McClelland & Stewart)

Death by a Thousand Cutswaslonglisted for the2024 Giller Prize.

• 12 Canadian books make longlist for 2024 $100K Giller Prize
• Shashi Bhat's book of short stories finds the humour in the everyday trials of being a woman read an excerpt

Shashi Bhat is a writer who lives in New Westminster, B.C. Her novelThe Most Precious Substance on Earthwasa finalist forthe 2022 Governor General's Literary Award for fiction. Her short storyMutewon the 2018 Writers' Trust McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize. She has been shortlisted for a National Magazine Award and the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award. She is also the author of the novelThe Family Took Shape.

From the book

Asha swipes right on a profile and a yellow screen pops upBOOM! it says in white sans serif. It's a match! She sends a screenshot of the guy's profile to her WhatsApp group chat.

This fellow seems promising, she types.

Nice, replies Mona. What does he do?

He's an elementary school art teacher. Do you think that means it's likely he wants kids?

Asha is a thirty-seven-year-old woman who does not want kids, but she does want a serious relationship, which limits the dating pool. Nearly everyone left within her search filters is a man in his late forties who says he wants kids but under Looking For has checked off Something Casual. Sometimes she misreads the words as Something Causal, and she thinks, Yes, yes. Me too.

Not necessarily, messages Mona. Maybe he's sick of kids from spending all day with them. No harm in setting up a date.

Yeah, go get your man! adds Elaine.

The profile shows a man likely of South Asian origin, with a goofy, open-mouthed smile. He has included five photos of himself: 1) in a tropical setting, wearing sunglasses and cradling a giant lizard; 2) in a harness, rock climbing; 3) holding a beer among a diverse group of men who are also holding beers; 4) ruffling the ears of a perturbed dachshund; 5) wearing a kurta while standing next to an aunty type. The photos say, "I love the outdoors! I love to travel and have new experiences! I have friends! I love dogs, but don't we all! I'm Indian but not so Indian that you can't relate to me!"

These qualities are acceptable to Asha, though she prefers wine to beer and rabbits to dogs and would describe herself as more indoorsy than outdoorsy.

These qualities are acceptable to Asha, though she prefers wine to beer and rabbits to dogs and would describe herself as more indoorsy than outdoorsy. She has three photos on her profile: 1) hamming it up with Elaine in a thrift store while Elaine tries on a unicorn mask; 2) holding a wine glass, mid-cheers, at a Niagara Falls winery with her mother; 3) in a gallery (at Mona's first exhibit), wearing a floral minidress and looking thoughtfully at art. Her photos declare, "I have friends and interests! I partake in cultural experiences! I enjoy alcohol in moderation! I can dress up or down! Though my profile says I don't want children, I have a great relationship with my mother!"

***

After three days of unremarkable messaging, they meet at the river market. This is Asha's go-to first-date suggestion, because it allows her full control. It's walking distance from her place. And there's a mid-century furniture and decor store where she can scout out deals before the dateshe always arrives early to get her bearings, to acclimate to temperature and noise level, and to use the washroom and check her hair, if necessary.

When her date shows up, she's studying a pair of green ceramic lamps.

"Heyyy," he says. "Those are cool lamps!"

He has charmed her by having good taste in lamps. When he reaches out to hug her, she obliges, though she doesn't really like hugging people she has just met. The hug makes obvious how muscular he is, more so than she expected. He reminds her of the actor who plays Bhima in Mahabharat, the TV version of the Sanskrit epic that her mother is always watching when she phones home. Asha could not summarize the plot of the epic, but she knows that Bhima is one of five brothers and has the strength of 10,000 elephants. Her date, like the actor, has a thick neck and a clean-shaven jawin Indian dramas from the '80s, the good guys never have facial hair.

He has charmed her by having good taste in lamps.

Asha likes that the river market has several portable food and drink options that cost less than five dollars (tea, coffee, gelato, hand-sized cookies, slices of quiche); she always selects from these to avoid feeling indebted if her date pays. She orders a jasmine tea that he doesn't let her pay for"Relax, it's four dollars!" he says, waving away her wallet. He whistles to himself as he adds three sugars to his coffee but no dairy. Asha finds this choice disgusting, but it's not like she has to drink it.

Another reason she chose this location is that, if it rains, they can sit at the tables inside, and if not, they can wander down the waterfront boardwalk. The latter is her preference because it creates a definite end point for the date. The experience will last one to two hours, enough time to decide whether it's safe and worth her time to go on a second date. For Asha, a date is like a video game, or at least like the uncomplicated ones she played twenty-five years ago; she just wants to finish this level and make it to the next.

She just wants to finish this level and make it to the next.

Excerpted fromDeath by a Thousand Cuts by Shashi Bhat. Copyright 2024 Shashi Bhat. Published by McClelland & Stewart, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.