Some of Dani’s memories are especially resonant and ironic in hindsight:Īt a writer’s retreat, when she was young, aspiring, and still unknown, a famous poet, observing her fair-skinned features, commented: “There’s no way you are Jewish. (Or were they? Do true blood ties matter? Or can nurture make up the difference? Dani explores this.) Their rich, storied Jewish history and culture were not hers. Her beloved aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents were not her blood relations, either. Which meant that her half sister was not her sister. In Dani’s case, she learned that her father, whom she adored, was not her biological father. Others are having long-held suspicions about maternity or paternity confirmed. I wanted to begin with Dani Shapiro’s jaw-dropping Inheritance because it is a “big,” important memoir, masterfully executed by a seasoned memoirist and novelist, about an increasingly common situation: more people are having their DNA analyzed, and some are getting huge surprises. As for Sicily, I look forward to seeing my extended family again and their stunningly beautiful landscape, their small city on the sea which has been their ancestral home for centuries, and their warm, embracing culture. I’m not sure what I’ll find in Sweden – more about that in upcoming posts. This, as I send off my DNA to be analyzed and journey to my two ancestral homes: Sweden, for the first time and Sicily, where we’ve traveled as a family on several occasions while raising our sons. Over the next month or two, I’ll be looking at memoir through the lens of inheritance – genetic, ancestral, cultural, and otherwise. ” Inheritance, Dani ShapiroĪ Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love

Her long-fingered hands clasped in her lap. “Now the details are so clear to me, as if contained in a time capsule: the Hudson River in the darkness the lights strung across the George Washington Bridge the even timbre of my mother’s voice the high plane of her cheekbone.

Inheritance dani shapiro