Skip to main content

Inheritance


⭐⭐⭐/5

New York Times best seller 
“A gripping genetic detective story, and a meditation on the meaning of parenthood and family.” (Jennifer Egan, author of Manhattan Beach)
A Washington Post, Vulture, Bustle, Real Simple, PopSugar, and LitHub Most Anticipated Book of 2019 and an Apple Books Best of January 2019
From the acclaimed, best-selling memoirist and novelist - “a writer of rare talent” (Cheryl Strayed) - a memoir about the staggering family secret uncovered by a genealogy test: an exploration of the urgent ethical questions surrounding fertility treatments and DNA testing, and a profound inquiry of paternity, identity, and love. 
What makes us who we are? What combination of memory, history, biology, experience, and that ineffable thing called the soul defines us?
In the spring of 2016, through a genealogy website to which she had whimsically submitted her DNA for analysis, Dani Shapiro received the stunning news that her father was not her biological father. She woke up one morning and her entire history - the life she had lived - crumbled beneath her.
Inheritance is an audiobook about secrets - secrets within families, kept out of shame or self-protectiveness; secrets we keep from one another in the name of love. It is the story of a woman's urgent quest to unlock the story of her own identity, a story that has been scrupulously hidden from her for more than 50 years, years she had spent writing brilliantly, and compulsively, on themes of identity and family history. It is an audiobook about the extraordinary moment we live in - a moment in which science and technology have outpaced not only medical ethics, but also the capacities of the human heart to contend with the consequences of what we discover."

I had the pleasure of listening to this one twice.  Once solo during walks and car commutes and once with my husband on a car trip to Florida for Spring Break vacation.  Ms. Shapiro tells a heartbreaking story that caused me such pause to wonder what i would have done, how I would have felt should I have encountered the same circumstances.  She writes beautifully of how she arrives at her coming to terms with the truth of the story and how she finds place for both her father and her biological father.  Her husband Michael is the grounding force needed in each of our lives as we go through emotions of our family.  So much of how she perceives her family took place long before they were together, yet he so gently allows her to feel without wallow in the outcome.  Beautifully done!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My daily bag

  My daily bag! Here's a tote made lovingly by my husband.  I chose the leather color and texture as well as the color of the straps.  It was custom-made!  My one request was a large pocket on the outside - particularly for sunglasses and keys.  And yes, there are two additional pockets on the inside. During quarantine and all our time at home he taught himself leabthercrafting and this is one of many of the projects he has completed.  Since then we've attended a few leather shows together where crafters share the work as well as suppliers allow you to demonstrate their tools and machines.  Its fascinating and I've gone from 0 to 50 in a short time learning all about his new hobby.   The great part is that there's always a quiet corner that I can find with my book when I've exhausted by interest and he's still at it.  So now to this book! The Girls in the Stilt House by Kelly Mustian (April 2021) " Set in 1920s Mississippi, this debut Souther...
Post a Comment
Read more

Maame

  Maame by Jessica George  Maddie is someone who each of us know.  Although many don't have any idea that so much pain, suffering, regret and sorrow are inside.  Maybe Maddie is even one of us.  The lack of nurturing from a parent, the need to care for an adult parent, the chosen sibling with no responsibility!  How can so much time have passed and you're in the same place?  Maddie's dad suffers from parkinson's and mom spends every other year in Guyana living her own life, with her brother disassociated until his mother comes back to London.  Maddie's career and love life and by on tepid fizzle for years.  How will she get through this latest tragedy?  Beautifully written and deeply felt, Maame is a treasure!
Post a Comment
Read more

January Reading Reflection

  As I reflect back on how my 2022 reading year ended, I'm thrilled with the stack that arrived almost by happenstance.  Several favorites were not purchased, they were gifted or shared as another's favorite read. I've come to treasure those most of all. Nowadays we're gathered less frequently - and rarely press a book into another reader's hands - yet when one arrives by mail I'm just as thrilled and flattered to be the recipient of such a treasure.   Book recommendations are so meaningful, and appreciated.  A good friend of mine owns an indie bookstore in Coeur d'Alene, ID and has shared I'd be a great 'hand seller' - one who listens and then finds just the right next read - handing it to them with care.  That's how I envision it taking place. This stack above were my favorite reads in 2022.  Of course there were so many that didn't make the stack - and often because I listened on audio and don't own the physical book.  And let'...
Post a Comment
Read more