....woman searches for her DNA ancestry in Appalachia and discovers roots to Portugal, Jewish, Native American heritage - which is not expected since her family culturally identify as Scottish protestant.

I love the way this is written and the humor. It reads so quickly and comes across as an honest re-telling of her experience at each step of the way. It helps me to find surprises and interesting turns in my own DNA ancestry - and that there is no need to try and figure out "how" or "why" information got lost...just focus on your own findings and mostly this brings joy and satisfaction.

And for Lisa Alther -a book!

I initially picked up this book because there was a review by Doris Lessing and so I knew it had to be good. I was concerned about reading a memoir that was going to drag me into the mud of someone else's confusion (claiming universal insight along the way); but nope! This was enjoyable, fun, and i definitely recommend to others to read this book.