DNA, or The Book of Brad: A comic novel about finding family

by Monica Bauer

A laugh out loud romantic dramedy and multi-generational family saga! A DNA test sends adoptee Rose Pettigrew, a young black lawyer, on a sometimes wildly comic, sometimes touching journey to find her Jewish family. Her guide is the love of her life, Paula Bernstein, who has spent decades running from her own Jewish identity only to find herself in love with a brand new Jew! Rose discovers the name of her father, Rabbi Brad Cohen, Rabbi to the Stars, Founder of Extremely Progressive Judaism, just days after his death. Quotations from Rabbi Brad's books begin each chapter, as Rose and Paula follow clues, discover family secrets, gain the support of lovable grandfather Shmuel, and navigate a difficult relationship with Brad's widow. A love letter to Jewish family values, African-American family values, and LGBTQ family values, the twists and turns finally bring Rose and Paula to new understandings of what it means to be part of an American family.

Genres: Fiction

218 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 29, 2020

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun read!

Good humor mixed with entertaining family dynamics of all sorts. I was truly entertained while learning a bissel of Judaism.

[Cecellia Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book much, much more than I expected to.
The story was good. The dialogue was good.
And the excerpts from Brad's books were deeply moving.