Inheritance - Dani Shapiro

Inheritance

By Dani Shapiro

  • Release Date: 2019-01-15
  • Genre: Biographies & Memoirs
Score: 4
4
From 696 Ratings

Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the acclaimed author of Signal Fires and host of the hit podcast Family Secrets: 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.

“Memoir gold: a profound and exquisitely rendered exploration of identity and the true meaning of family.” —People

In the spring of 2016, through a genealogy website to which she had casually submitted her DNA for analysis, Dani Shapiro received the stunning news that her beloved deceased father was not her biological father. Over the course of a single day, her entire history—the life she had lived—crumbled beneath her.

Inheritance is a book about secrets. It is the story of a woman's urgent quest to unlock the story of her own identity, a story that had been scrupulously hidden from her for more than fifty years. 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. Dani Shapiro’s memoir unfolds at a breakneck pace—part mystery, part real-time investigation, part rumination on the ineffable combination of memory, history, biology, and experience that makes us who we are. Inheritance is a devastating and haunting interrogation of the meaning of kinship and identity, written with stunning intensity and precision.

Reviews

  • Great Read

    4
    By Fleming Bourgeois
    The beginning of this book starts off action packed and full of suspense and interest. The second half loses the momentum but still provides a unique insight into to the author’s brain at the time. Overall, a very unique and personal book which I thoroughly enjoyed.
  • Interesting Book

    4
    By RossB-B
    Opened my eyes to the ethical and emotional sequelae of artificial insemination.
  • Best book I read last year

    5
    By Poppie+3
    This book stays with you long after you’re done reading. It’s like a fragrance or a flavor that makes a trip back to you with all its detail.
  • Incredible

    5
    By lorazepam21!
    The best book I have read in years. Kol hakavod!
  • Inheritance

    5
    By FLbluey
    As an adoptive parent I found Dani Shapiro’s memoir fascinating. She is a gifted storyteller and through her words unlocks a world which I thought I had known. I’m still thinking about her story. It will be with me for a long time.
  • Only The Sample

    5
    By amy-re
    I’ve only read the sample and I really want and really liked it.
  • Inheritance

    5
    By Limmon 85
    Wow, there is so much going on here. Not only does the author let us in on her very personal journey to discover her true “family”, she shows us the pain and vulnerability that precedes it. Big BIG questions about identity and ethics and the future (and past) of the medical practices we are beginning to take for granted today - things that were unheard of (or at least not discussed) 50 years ago. For me, though, just as important is the theme of secrets and what that does to a family and to the individual as they build their life. Really enjoyed this book and it brought up a lot of questions in my own life.

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