INHERITANCE by Dani Shapiro

I did not really want to read this book and certainly did not expect to like it.  Memoirs are definitely not my thing, but my dread was quickly dispelled.  This book focuses on the author’s discovery via DNA testing that her now deceased father was not her biological father.  As Dani was much closer to her Orthodox Jewish father than to her somewhat narcissistic mother, this revelation about her paternity completely rocks her world.  The only flaw in this whole story is that Dani had loads of clues throughout her life and simply chose to disregard them.  To ignore how different her coloring and features were from her parents seems outrageous to me.  Perhaps, though, she had some subconscious doubt about her parentage that caused her to do the DNA test in the first place, albeit at the suggestion of her husband.  I loved several things about this book—the suspense, the writing, and especially the emotional wallop that it packs.  It brought tears to my eyes more than once, as Dani does some in-depth soul searching about what it means to be a daughter and to be loved.  Her conception using artificial insemination leaves her with questions that she may never be able to answer, particularly with regard to whether or not either or both parents knew that she was not her father’s biological offspring.  The book also addresses the fact that sperm banks can no longer guarantee anonymity.  Our access to DNA information is remarkable, and it can enlighten us as to where we came from; we just have to ensure that it does not redefine who we are at our core.