Claire Bidwell Smith has written a resonant memoir called The Rules of Inheritance – Claire Bidwell Smith-an only child–was just fourteen years old, when both of her parents were diagnosed with cancer within months of each other. “I’ve already come to the conclusion that I will probably be parentless by the time I am thirty,” Claire writes. Hurtling toward loss, her every choice carries the weight of a young woman’s world, and it feels like a solitary place.

Hear her interview with Lee Callahan here: