Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love

Written by:
Dani Shapiro
Narrated by:
Dani Shapiro

Unabridged Audiobook

Ratings
Book
99
Narrator
18
Release Date
January 2019
Duration
6 hours 45 minutes
Summary
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.
Reviews
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Gazbeya E.

I did not enjoy this story much. I feel the story fell flat. Much ado was made of what felt like nothing. Would Not recommend it

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Anonymous

I read the first chapter and realized I should’ve spent more time researching the topic no interest in even pursuing it. Frustrated I purchased it

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Eefje H.

beautiful book, so recognizable what Dani went through, but she can express it so much better than I ever could.

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Arlene F.

i was absolutely riveted to this book and ended up missing my exit while driving :)

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Felicia S.

This book spoke to me like no other. I needed to hear Dani’s voice both in her writing and in her spoken voice. Thank you Dani for sharing your story. I am grateful to you.

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