Inheritance by Dani Shapiro

This is a fascinating book about a search for identity after a 54-year woman discovers that her biological father was not the man who raised her but instead a sperm donor. Looking into a mirror in a self-described obsessive manner while growing up, she sensed she was different from the others in her family. She knew that the face that stared back at her did not resemble anyone else in her family. Then a DNA test reveals that she is not related to her half-sister, therefore the father she loved deeply was not her father. Now her driving force becomes, "Who am I?" And further, this narrative also devels into the industry and ethics of anonymous sperm donations wherein millions of children never know their fathers or perhaps even their true origins. In an interview, a purveyor of sperm remarks unfeelingly to her, " Why is it traumatic? You're here, aren't you?" WOW! This is a book that many who have an anonymous parent, or a known parent who never had anything to do with them may find difficult to read because it addresses reality and pain we experience all our life. Perhaps it may also open up an awareness of a poignant "circumstance" that millions experience.