It’s #SqueezeInARead day in Ireland, so I thought why not also post a book review. As a genetic genealogist, I’m fascinated by this new genre of DNA discovery memoir. From the opening lines of Inheritance by Dani Shapiro, we learn that she took a DNA test and discovered that the man who raised & loved her, was not her biological father. I knew this much before I started reading.
What I didn’t know is where the story would lead, and I don’t want to spoil that for future readers. Both Dani’s parents were dead by the time she made this discovery, aged 54, so she couldn’t question them. She became her own Temperance Brennan and with a cameo from Jennifer Mendelsohn, she set out to discover her birth father.
Dani was already a published author, and you can really tell this from the fluid, easy, descriptive way she writes. Thought has gone into the phrasing. She is a storyteller. I enjoyed the search and the story. Ethics were well-considered. I think the end comes a little suddenly & would like an epilogue of where she’s at now with the journey…but perhaps there’ll be another book?!