An Instant NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A LOS ANGELES TIMES, BOSTON GLOBE, WALL STREET JOURNAL, and NATIONAL INDIE BESTSELLER A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR according to Elle, Real Simple, and Kirkus Reviews “Memoir gold: a profound and exquisitely rendered exploration of identity and the true meaning of family.” —People Magazine “Beautifully written and deeply moving—it brought me to tears more than … Magazine
“Beautifully written and deeply moving—it brought me to tears more than once.”—Ruth Franklin, The New York Times Book Review
From the acclaimed, best-selling memoirist, novelist—“a writer of rare talent” (Cheryl Strayed)— and host of the hit podcast Family Secrets, comes 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 a book 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 fifty years, years she had spent writing brilliantly, and compulsively, on themes of identity and family history. It is a book 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.
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This was not the easiest book for me to read, if only for the amount of time spent on the aspects of infertility, but the spirit of it was so beautiful and pure. That Dani was able to write about her experiences at this moment in time, when DNA and ancestry databases are helping to solve crimes and helping families find their truths, it’s true serendipity. I think it will help a lot of people who are searching for their own identities. A must-read.
You might not think of a memoir as a page-turner, but this one is every bit of that! Dani Shapiro is a gifted writer who found the most astonishing mystery in her own family history. And she raises powerful questions about the rush to explore ancestry through DNA and the secrets that may be cracked open.
And if you get a chance to hear her speak–don’t miss it!
This is a memoir of a woman in her fifties who takes an Ancestry DNA test, really on a whim. As a result, she finds the man she has believed to be her father all of her life, is not her father at all. She also happens to be an incredibly talented writer and the resulting book – about finding out, about searching for the truth about her conception and locating her biological father – is breathtakingly good. Shapiro takes the reader into the guts of her emotions with honesty, wit and intelligence. Wonderful book!
Fascinating story and so beautifully told by Dani Shapiro. Stayed up way too late finishing this one.
I’ve been a fan of Dani Shapiro’s writing for a while and this memoir is the culmination of her unbelievable talent. The story is fascinating and the writing absolutely beautiful. Shapiro leaves her entire soul on the page, not shying away from exploring her emotional reactions when she finds herself in an unthinkable situation. After taking a mail away DNA test on a whim, she learns that her beloved father, who died tragically when Shapiro was 23, is not her biological father. I took this journey of self-discovery right alongside Shapiro, experiencing her highs and lows as she figures out who her biological father is and why she didn’t learn this secret until she was 54. I adored every sentence. This would make an incredible book club read!
Raced through this book like a wild fire. Excellent!
Boring.
I enjoyed this memoir from Dani Shapiro, who finds out that the man she thought was her father, was not her biological father. Through a DNA test, Dani realizes that her identity isn’t what she thought. She then finds her biological father and sets out to learn more about him. A story of identity, family, and searching for yourself.
I have already written an Amazon review but will just add one here. Although this book was the author’s true experience, I did not find it as devastating as she did. Of course, I was not brought up in a Jewish household with emphasis on lineage and family heritage. She also had the biggest clue in the mirror every time she looked at herself and saw no resemblance to anyone in her family much less any other Jewish people. It was interesting to learn of how she ended up finding out who the sperm donor was and the eventual meeting all because she did a DNA search.
Shoulda been a magazine article.
As one who is both our family genealogist and who has had my DNA tested, I found this book fascinating. People have asked what I would do if I found “skeletons” within the results of my DNA test. I think I would pursue answers as did the author of this book. Very, very interesting. I highly recommend, “Inheritance”.
I love anything about genealogy and finding your background and your relatives. A very interesting book. I’m sure not everyone ends up with knowing their biological parent.
This is an incredible memoir by the talented Dani Shapiro – describing the trauma and turmoil created by her discovery through DNA testing that her Jewish father wasn’t really her father. Timely – given the popularty of DNA testing. Do you know who your father really is? Some memoirs are tedious and boring – this one is the opposite. A must read!
Perfect.
Interesting story of heritage that goes beyond genetics
Well written story of authors search for her ‘real self’. Raised in an Orthodox Jewish family, she always wondered why she was the only blond and why she didn’t look like the rest of her family. It wasn’t until she was much older that she began to look into the fact that her parents had gone to a fertility clinic. Her mother kept the secret and revealed little information. I’m
Excellent read.
How can I buy this book?
Dani Shapiro’s search for answers after she discovers that her beloved father is not her biological father reads like a mystery story intertwined with reflections on her feelings of “otherness” throughout her life. Her writing is bare and honest revealing her vulnerability in her quest to find out how much her parent’s knew about her true identity. The fact that she was raised as an Orthodox Jew with a rich history of relatives steeped in the faith complicates her search for who she really is. Her contemplation of how she has always looked so different from the rest of her family and even received comments from other Jews that she couldn’t possibly be Jewish makes her discovery even more dramatic. Even if you’ve never had to question the source of your identity it’s not hard to empathize with the author’s trauma in finding out that so much of her life has been built on a false assumption.
Dani Shapiro’s latest memoir about her unexpected DNA discovery is a fascinating read. I have long been a fan of Shapiro’s beautiful writing style, her mastery of language and her tender and touching storytelling. Highly recommended.