2 thoughts on “The Rules of Inheritance by Claire Bidwell Smith”
[…] This book was big news when it was published in March, and I hope people are still buying/reading it. When it arrived in the post I worried that it wouldn’t live up the hype, but luckily Claire Bidwell-Smith is an excellent writer and doesn’t make the mistake of making her memoir self-indulgent or whine-y. Which is quite a feat given that the main focus of the story is the deaths of both her parents (though some years apart). Her mother died when she was eighteen, and her father when she was in her mid-twenties. Both died of cancer and naturally both losses made a huge and long-lasting effect on Claire’s life. She writes beautifully about her relationships with her parents, both separate and together, and painstakingly details her journey back to being a ‘real girl’ when they are taken from her. She did the usual Young Person thing of travelling and experimenting with things, but all her experiences are tinged with the feelings of loss she carries around with her. I would recommend this book to anyone who has ever dealt with losing a parent, or with depression as that is also masterfully explored. My original review can be found here. […]
[…] memoirs or those about an ordinary person who had an extraordinary experience (such as Wild or The Rules of Inheritance). I don’t think I’ve ever read a memoir of a celebrity before. The phrase […]
These Little Words 
[…] This book was big news when it was published in March, and I hope people are still buying/reading it. When it arrived in the post I worried that it wouldn’t live up the hype, but luckily Claire Bidwell-Smith is an excellent writer and doesn’t make the mistake of making her memoir self-indulgent or whine-y. Which is quite a feat given that the main focus of the story is the deaths of both her parents (though some years apart). Her mother died when she was eighteen, and her father when she was in her mid-twenties. Both died of cancer and naturally both losses made a huge and long-lasting effect on Claire’s life. She writes beautifully about her relationships with her parents, both separate and together, and painstakingly details her journey back to being a ‘real girl’ when they are taken from her. She did the usual Young Person thing of travelling and experimenting with things, but all her experiences are tinged with the feelings of loss she carries around with her. I would recommend this book to anyone who has ever dealt with losing a parent, or with depression as that is also masterfully explored. My original review can be found here. […]
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[…] memoirs or those about an ordinary person who had an extraordinary experience (such as Wild or The Rules of Inheritance). I don’t think I’ve ever read a memoir of a celebrity before. The phrase […]
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