Inheritance

A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love

By: Dani Shapiro

Narrated by: Dani Shapiro

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 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.

Wow!

As a person who questions the fate
Of my own biological father I found this work so very interesting. The vivid and lucid descriptions of a trauma so deep is purely enjoyable and puts you in the center of the controlled chaos of having your entire existence tilled and replanted. A must- listen/read - you won’t regret it.

Wonderful!

As a product of artificial insemination I found Dani Shapiro’s memoir touching and soul searching. She is insightful, intelligent and articulate. Her words tug on your heart. Indeed, a very talented performance. If this topic has any meaning for you this is a must listen.

Excellent

A really wonderful story that is both enthralling and heart wrenching and will capture your attention so that you will not be able to quit listening to it without great effort. Narrator was excellent.

I laughed, I cried. Memorable memoir.

Short and to the point, I was totally captured by this book, by Dani’s story, by her reading and by her discoveries about herself, her family and about Life. If you are human you will enjoy this book.

Gripping book even better when read by the author

I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. Her elegant language and poetic portrayal of intense emotions blew me away. I felt like I was living it with her. My favorite book from the last year.