DNA, OR THE BOOK OF BRAD

In Bauer’s debut novel, a young Black lawyer discovers her birth family and her Jewish roots.

While speeding down Los Angeles’ 405 freeway and on the phone with one of his many mistresses, 56-year-old “Rabbi to the Stars” Brad Cohen gets into a fatal car wreck. At the same time, across town, 28-year-old attorney Rose Pettigrew, who identifies as Black, is hesitantly opening the results of her recent DNA test. Raised by her adoptive mother, Shaniqua, to celebrate her Blackness, Rose is surprised to learn that she has Ashkenazi Jewish ancestors. Her girlfriend, a White heart surgeon named Paula, can’t believe it either; she was raised Jewish but later declared herself agnostic and vowed long ago to never date another “nice Jewish girl.” The two quickly put together that the recently deceased Brad, who was also White, must have been Rose’s biological father, so they attend his star-studded funeral, where they meet the rest of the dysfunctional family: Rose’s brother, Jacob, who’s struggling to get his comedy career off the ground; the gentle and straightforward Rabbi Shmuel, Rose’s grandfather; and Brad’s high-maintenance widow, Saragail. Rose finds herself thrown into all the drama of her new family as she struggles to come to terms with her multifaceted identity. Bauer’s plot provides a fun setup that allows her to explore Jewish, LGBTQ+, and Black communities from several smart angles. Her book is filled with colorful characters and jokes; Saragail particularly stands out with her divalike behavior and possibly supernatural hot flashes, although Paula consistently delivers the book’s best one-liners: “Look it up. It’s worth two Jew Points,” she responds when Rose asks what mishegoss means. Some jokes, especially about celebrity culture, are a bit too broad—Cyndi Lauper sings “Jews Just Wanna Have Fun” at Brad’s funeral, for example—but a sweet core of self-acceptance and familial love keeps things relatively grounded.

An intriguing premise paves the way for laughs in a tale featuring a diverse cast.