Inheritance
A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love
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Inheritance
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Narrated by:
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Dani Shapiro
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Written by:
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Dani Shapiro
About this listen
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 AudioWhat the critics say
"Fascinating... With thoughtful candor, [Shapiro] explores the ethical questions surrounding sperm donation, the consequences of DNA testing, and the emotional impact of having an uprooted religious and ethnic identity. This beautifully written, thought-provoking genealogical mystery will captivate readers from the very first pages." (Publishers Weekly)
"For all the trauma that the discovery put her through, Shapiro recognizes that what she had experienced was 'a great story' - one that has inspired her best book." (Kirkus Reviews)
"Page after page, Shapiro displays a disarming honesty and an acute desire to know the unknowable." (Booklist)
What listeners say about Inheritance
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Victoria Tirmizi
- 2022-05-10
Another interesting listen
This is the fourth of Dani Shapiro’s memoirs that I have listened to. I listened to them one after another and it has been very enjoyable. She is very honest and detailed in her writing and she has walked an interesting path. Her voice is lovely and easy to listen to. I am hoping that she is writing something right now that I will get to listen to soon.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2023-05-22
Dani is a fabulous story teller
It was a pleasure to listen to your story. Hard and heartwarming. Thank you for writing!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2024-07-10
Lovely
Dani has a way of washing over you with intrigue, curiosity and tenderness...I loved this book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- lorraine p.
- 2021-09-19
Touched ti my core
Outstanding. Haven’t been so touched by a book in years. I will read every book now that Dani has written. Hearing her voice is the ultimate gift to the r experience. I wish she would want to meet ME
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Shannon N
- 2022-10-28
My favorite memoir… ever!
I couldn’t stop listening. Dani is a sublime storyteller. I laughed, I cried, I was engrossed. Thank you, Dani for sharing your story ❤️
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- G. Schienbein
- 2021-03-30
Long... and a bit annoying
I enjoyed it at the outset, but after about 45 minutes I started to feel annoyed with the writer. That annoyance built over time for one reason, the "drama" of this memoir sounded more and more manufactured. Perhaps this is because s a ghostwriter, I have written many memoirs and understand what Publishers would look for. It is as if Ms Shapiro took that checklist and did everything necessary to hit those marks, but as a result her story lacks an authenticity that makes great memoirs stand out from the rest.
I also felt annoyed by the immaturity and lack of empathy shown other keys players in her story. As if the only pain that mattered was her own.
I am 51 minutes from the end, and normally I would push through... but I just can't with this one.
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1 person found this helpful