What We Inherit, Jessica Pearce Rotondi
What We Inherit, Jessica Pearce Rotondi
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What We Inherit
A Secret War and a Family's Search for Answers

Author: Jessica Pearce Rotondi

Narrator: Jessica Pearce Rotondi

Unabridged: 6 hr 50 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 04/21/2020

Synopsis

In the wake of her mother's death, Jessica Pearce Rotondi uncovers boxes of letters, declassified CIA reports, and newspaper clippings that bring to light a family ghost: her uncle Jack, who disappeared during the CIA-led "Secret War" in Laos in 1972. The letters lead her across Southeast Asia in search of the truth that has eluded her family for decades.

On the night of March 29, 1972, Jack's plane vanishes over the mountains bordering Vietnam. The crash eerily echoes the one Jack's father, Ed Pearce, survived over Germany in World War II, when Ed parachuted out of a burning plane before being captured and sent to Stalag 17 prison camp.

Years later, Ed will become convinced that his son is still alive and that the US government he fought for is lying to him. What We Inherit is Rotondi's story of her own hunt for answers as she retraces her grandfather's journey to Laos in search of his son.

An excavation of intergenerational trauma on a personal and national scale, What We Inherit reveals the power of a father's refusal to be silenced and a daughter's quest to rediscover her voice in the wake of loss.

About Jessica Pearce Rotondi

Jessica Pearce Rotondi is a writer and editor living in Brooklyn. Her work has been published by The History Channel, Time, Reader's Digest, Salon, Atlas Obscura, HuffPost, and Refinery29. Previously, she was a senior editor at HuffPost and a staff member at the PEN American Center, the world's oldest literary human rights organization. Her first job in New York City was at St. Martin's Press, where she had a "room of her own" in the Flatiron Building to fill with books. She grew up in New England and is a graduate of Brown University. What We Inherit is her first book.

Connect with Jessica on Twitter and Instagram @JessicaRotondi or visit her website.

Reviews

Goodreads review by David on July 11, 2020

The content of Rotondi's book is completely unrelated to that of Abraham Verghese's book "My Own Country" but my problems with both books are remarkably similar so I'm just going to have to repeat myself. A decent concept is spoiled by an overwritten writers workshop style with the occasional carica......more

Goodreads review by Eryn on April 12, 2020

I don’t often read a book in one day, but What We Inherit grabbed me from the first sentence and I couldn’t put it down until I was down. It’s beautifully written, powerful, heart wrenching and poignant. Highly recommend.......more

Goodreads review by Pari on April 07, 2020

A non-fiction that reads like a page-turning fiction. Impressively researched and captivating. Strongly recommend.......more

Goodreads review by Jackie on April 26, 2020

Jessica Pearce Rotondi’s debut is magnificent. I was stunned by the story and the way she tells it and had to remind myself that this is not fiction. Pearce Rotondi does more than share her family’s heart-wrenching story of legacy, loss and the uncovering of war-time truths. She weaves a thoughtful......more

Goodreads review by Candace on July 27, 2023

I was intrigued by the premise of this book, a woman grieving her mother who died four years ago sets out with a friend to find the location where her Uncle Jack’s plane crashed in 1972 in Vietnam. I feel like this book was much more about grief than unraveling any secrets and it was okay, but not a......more

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