Claire Bidwell Smith

Wow, I am so honored to have received this quote about my book from Darin Strauss this morning.

Claire Bidwell Smith has written a beautiful book; it’s a perfectly crafted story — not about grief, but how to walk out of grief with your soul intact; it’s not a lamentaion, but a lesson.THE RULES OF INHERITANCE should be required reading for anybody who’s trying to get their arms around a big sadness. -Darin Strauss, Author of HALF A LIFE

Although Darin is the author of hugely popular novels like CHANG AND ENG and MORE THAN IT HURTS YOU, he also won the National Book Critics Circle award this year for his memoir HALF A LIFE, about how he killed a classmate in a car accident when he was in high school. This book absolutely floored me. It was one of the most honest and perfectly told memoirs I’ve ever read.

I’m still reeling that he took the time to read my book AND said the above about it.