When Dani send in one of those spit-in-a-cup DNA kits, she did it as a lark, just for fun. But when the results arrive, the world shifts underneath her as she finds out that the man she had always known as father was not a biological relative to her. At all. Inheritance is Dani's journey through finding out this information, investigating the circumstances of her conception and her attempts to determine the name of her biological father. It is a story about secrets and what even secrets never revealed in one's lifetime can do to the fabric of a family. It digs deep into identity and security, what are the threads that really make us a part of the clan we have always claimed as our own?
I found this really engrossing, very readable and very powerful. I can't imagine how unmooring it would be, to find out such a secret - and to not have your parents around to ask about it would make it so much worse. I enjoyed the almost mystery-like quest to figure out what the heck happened to make this circumstance even exist. I loved how her Jewish history and customs were woven into her narrative and her short forays into the history of reproductive science flowed well within the narrative. While parts of her internal monologue are a bit repetitive, it didn't bother me because I can imagine that I would have certain thoughts running through my brain constantly. Several scenes were incredibly tender to me. The writing was so vivid and poignant, as Dani tries to truly sort through the elements of her biological self, her past experiences, and her lifetime's-worth of relationships to determine what is at the indelible core of who she is. What she has to find is the part of herself that has intrinsic value despite the information that has turned her life upside down.
No comments:
Post a Comment