Inheritance by Dani Shapiro; 5 stars

[Amy]

So many people are liking the review I hadn't even written yet! Must be a popular well loved book. I can see why. It really is a beautiful tender memoir that is really about the bonds of love that make us who we are as deeply as the DNA that binds us. It forces the author and us to ask questions left covered, but also about the essence of self what we truly inherit. It was beautifully done.

I am aware that this author has a memoir about her mother and Borderline Personality Disorder. One of my patients was incredibly moved by the resonance of that for her, and Dani Shapiro has intrigued me ever since. But how wonderful in the last pages to see Christopher Bollas, 'the unknown thought' and John Keats, "negative culpability." She got me at the heart with my tears over her beautiful writing, but also at my favorite psychoanalytic writers. But at the heart of this, is my close relationship with my own father, mirrored by her close relationship with hers. My fathers genes are strong and you can see them in all five of his grandchildren, with two additional parents in there. I can barely imagine what Dani went through. But if its anything like the soulmate connection I have with my father, I have an inkling about how hard that hit. But also, how much stronger the love.

[Ellen]

I enjoyed this one quite a lot.

[NancyJ]

I'm glad you loved it too. I read it several years ago and I think of it often.