The Rules of Inheritance

I had the true joy of reading The Rules of Inheritance, a memoir by Claire Bidwell Smith a couple of weeks ago for BlogHer's Book Club.  It was one of the most moving books I've read in a long time and at times I found myself sobbing as I read.  

I have lost grandparents, an uncle, and family friends over the years, but I've never lost anyone that I was extremely close to.  I can't imagine having lost a parent or a sibling or a child.  I dread the day when that time comes. 

I thought a lot about being prepared for a death in the family when I read last month’s book club book The Underside of Joy.  As I read through The Rules of Inheritance, I thought again about caring for elderly parents, what paperwork needed to be completed in the case of a family emergency, and making sure that my children are protected in the case that my husband or I died suddenly.  I thought about preparing them for our death. These things are not fun to think about, but I'm glad that I have been reminded to.

I wasn't sure I was going to like this book.  I mean, it's non-fiction and I tend to be a fiction kind of girl, plus the author had a way with jumping from year to year with each chapter so I found myself often confused in the beginning.  Nevertheless, I was wrong.  


She has a vivid way of telling a story that just makes it seem so real.  It's as if you could feel every single thing she was feeling as you read the words.  One of my favorite quotes portrays this exactly: "On the sidewalk grief takes my hand, leading me home so that I can cry myself to sleep, flushed and sweaty, like a little girl."


I say that even though we don't want to we should think about dying and losing close family and what we will do and how we should feel.  It can only help.  I say you should read this book.  It will make you feel deeply.


This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.

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