The Shape of Normal
A Memoir of Motherhood, Disability and Embracing a Different Kind of Perfect

Catherine Shields

Publication date: November, 2023
Genre: Memoir
Paperback: ISBN: 978-3-98832-034-6
eBook: ISBN: 978-3-98832-035-3

★★★★★ “Brave and heartbreaking... will resonate with all parents.” Jen Pastiloff, author of On Being Human

As a young suburban mother in the early 1980s, Cathy had a loving husband, a sweet toddler, and a vision of life laid out before her. Pregnant for the second time, with twins, she imagined creating the warm, affectionate home she’d craved as a child. Her family would flourish, and she would be the calm, unflappable mother at its center.

But the universe had other plans.

The Shape of Normal explores Cathy's intense denial and devotion as she struggles to face the challenges of raising a girl with cognitive disabilities. Convinced her diagnosis can be undone with just the right amount of single-mindedness, she turns it into a dark prophecy. But she'll have to overcome adversity and learn the lesson of acceptance before realizing her daughter was never broken.

Cathy was never on a hero’s journey to save her child. She needed to save herself.