I am finding family but not in the same way. And I use some of the same techniques. But this book is about a very different quest than mine.
This was a bit of an unusual experience for me. I was browsing Amazon looking for something else. I forget what but that is unimportant. My hobby is genealogy and last Christmas I was given an autosomal DNA test kit. The results confirmed several known relationships and one suspected relationship. It also opened several unexpected avenues of research.
So I am acquainted with the uses and power of DNA for genealogy but still feel very much like a beginner in genetic genealogy.
When I saw the title Finding Family: My Search for Roots and the Secrets in My DNA, I thought this might be a useful book and suspected it might be about a genealogist like me or maybe DNA techniques that would be useful in my searching. I also did not look very closely at the reviews as what caught my attention was that the Kindle book was a free download for Prime members.
I started reading my free book immediately and was quickly surprised. Richard Hill opens Finding Family: My Search for Roots and the Secrets in My DNA with the story of how he came to find out that he was adopted. What follows had my full attention. It was a very personal memoir of a difficult and rewarding search for his biological roots.
The story is well-written. It is fascinating and hard to put down. I suspect it would be of interest to quite a few – genealogists, adoptees, those interested in family history issues, or those who just like a good story.
In addition to a great story, you learn many techniques of use to adoptees searching for family information that would be useful or that should be avoided. You also learn how the author dealt with the often sensitive issues of having both an adopted and biological family. Many of these techniques and issues are also of interest to other genealogists.
The Kindle version also includes a Guide to DNA Testing which will be helpful to those considering various DNA tests for genealogy.