Inheritance Audiobook By Dani Shapiro cover art

Inheritance

A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love

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Inheritance

By: Dani Shapiro
Narrated by: Dani Shapiro
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An Instant New York Times Best Seller

A Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal, and National Indie Best Seller

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 an audiobook 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 50 years, years she had spent writing brilliantly, and compulsively, on themes of identity and family history. It is an audiobook 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.

©2019 Dani Shapiro (P)2019 Random House Audio Art & Literature Authors Inspiring Heartfelt

Critic reviews

New York Times Editors' Choice

A Washington Post, Vulture, Bustle, Real Simple, PopSugar, and LitHub Most Anticipated Book of 2019

“[An] engrossing, compassionate memoir.... As in the best writing on the self, the point is the integrity of her search.” —Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker

“The writing is that of a true storyteller who will not stop until she has bored down to the bottom of where she came from, and in this she is at her narrative best.” —Oprah Magazine

“As compulsively readable as a mystery novel, while exploring the deeper mysteries of identity and family and truth itself... a story told with great insight and honesty and heart.” —San Francisco Chronicle

Editor's Pick

The dark side of DNA testing
"When I first heard about Inheritance, I have to admit I wrinkled my nose a little—hadn’t I already listened to enough memoirs about FAMILY SECRETS and COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIPS? I mean, sure, it’s one of my favorite sub-genres, but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Inheritance, as it turns out, is a perfect little jewel of a memoir. Well into her adult life, Dani Shapiro took a DNA test on a whim—only to discover that her beloved Orthodox Jewish father was not, in fact, her biological father. Naturally, inner turmoil ensues as she sets out to uncover the truth about her past. I don’t know how she does it, but Shapiro’s memoir is somehow an impossible combination of beautiful words, soul-searching insight, and fast-paced thrills. *And* her narration is amazing too—what??! I can think of only one plausible explanation: she must be some kind of word sorcerer."
—Rachel S., Audible Editor

Compelling Personal Journey • Beautifully Written Memoir • Soothing Voice • Thought-provoking Narrative
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While marketed as a story of an author investigating her paternity, the truly compelling character in the book is not the author’s father, but her mother, against whom the author seethes and rages, and on whom she enacts a fearsome revenge. It is also true that the investigation of her paternity is a gripping and deeply honest story, with twists and turns to rival any novel. And yet while the story is compelling and moving, is the author able to use it to truly unravel the deepest questions we face as individuals, and as a society tethered to technologies whose ramifications are not fully understood and whose consequences can ripple for generations? Readers/listeners of the final chapters can decide for themselves. In any event, this recording is at times a tear-jerker, at times harrowing, at times surreal or unnerving in its intimacy, at times laugh out loud funny, but at all times, I could not “put it down.”

A spellbinding book

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I am interested in genealogy and have discovered some wonderful "cousins" through DNA testing. In this case, the author had an unexpected shock when her DNA didn't match her family tree. She stalked the source of her DNA and discovered another family. I enjoyed the story of her journey but felt that some of the details might have been edited out. This story raised a lot of ethical questions about fertility clinics and sperm and egg donors that remain unresolved. Early in the story, the author seemed devastated to discover she was only part Jewish but eventually accepted that she was part of three families instead of two as she had always believed.

Good but might have been condensed a bit.

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beautifull poignant engrossing. Dani shapiro hits a home run navigating us through a new identity that offers a gift to the author and the reader.

inheritance

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Absolutely beautiful, well written, and full of surprises. A very well work, a memoir that can take you to unexpected journeys . An opening into a life of questions that goes into Who Am I? Reveling!
Thank you Dani Shapiro for this beautiful work and for sharing your story.

Love this memoir

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I loved this book. It is thought provoking and informative. I will suggest it to my friends.

I very much enjoyed this book.

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Enjoyed the story. Author reading was an asset to the story--very emotive.
Some of the story was a bit too contrived and mushy. Overall a very interesting listen.

Wonderful story

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great story very intriguing. I want to listen to more of her memoirs now. yeah

great

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Dani Shapiro’s latest memoir, INHERITANCE: a Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love – once again offers the reader a page-turning narrative into her uniquely compelling story of understanding her own life’s set of unusual circumstances — the massive tragedies, the family secrets and ultimate healing she was able to come to terms with after years of trying to unlock the questions that had been plaguing her her entire life: Why did she always feel she was ‘other’ and did not fit in with her birth family of origin? Her intense bond with her Orthodox Jewish father, her challenging relationship with her narcissistic mother, her parent’s horrific car accident when she was 23, her son’s harrowing journey as an infant with infantile spasms, her wild rebellious past as a young adult trying to figure out her soul’s restlessness and unhappiness, her amazing partnership with her husband of almost 20 years…and, as examined in this book, her stunning discovery through an Ancestry.com profile that her beloved father was not her biological father — which broke open her known-ordered life and nearly leveled her.

It seems that her story could not have unfolded differently — that the synchronicity of her unique circumstances carved out her journey as a writer and her willingness to mine the gold in her cavernous family history which has helped her emerge as a literary phoenix through the fire of her own life.

Sparse, raw, personal, inquisitive, questioning, investigative and revealing, Ms. Shapiro bares all — no detail left unexamined — no matter how painful.

In her earlier memoir, DEVOTION — (while immersed on a spiritual quest exploring how to find contentment while examining her chaotic life) — she finds herself at a meditation retreat and is the only one who raises her hand when queried — in the hopes of discovering the answer to her life’s pressing questions which resolves itself with: “I wish to die unconfused.”

I am happy she has been able to decode her past and find some comfort unveiling the 'lost black box' that was haunting her for so many years.

Highly recommend!

This is a stunning page turner....

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Thank you Dani, for YOUR story and the beautiful way you presented it. I will recommend it to all my friends.

What an intimate sport

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My mom recommended this book. She thought I'd like it and, boy, was she right! Which feels so right, given that this is a book about discovering your origins and re-evaluating who you are. Dani Shapiro writes beautifully. I especially loved the references to Hebrew prayer and scripture. Hearing her read her own story made it seem even more personal. The book me think about family, family narratives and broader ethical issues I had never thought about before. Ultimately, Dani Shapiro shares with us her journey toward wholeness, and inspires us all to embark on our own such journeys.

Loved this book!

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