Very thought provoking and real in what could have happened in 1964

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	• The Memory Keeper's Daughter Kim Edwards Penguin (Non-Classics), 2006 - 432 pages average customer review:based on 776 reviews view larger image
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Very thought provoking and real in what could have happened in 1964

First off this novel is beautifully written. The prose alone gives it 5 stars easily. Then when you add the story line and the reality of how this could have very easily have happened in real life back in 1964, it just adds more oomph and awe to this wonderful novel. I worked with mentally challenged adults before and most of the ones I worked with were in thier 40's and 50's in 2003. These particular adults I had the pleasure to work with had really been dropped off to institutions prior to 1964 and so yes this novel is very realistic. Although in this novel the nurse told to drop the infant off instead raises her, makes this story sensational, real and very thought provoking. This novel is emotional, heartbreaking, and full of redemption. I am happy to have had the pleasure to read this book. All I can suggest is buy it and enjoy it and pass it on to your friends or family to enjoy. :)

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Okay, but not great

In 1964, Dr. David Henry is forced to deliver his fraternal twins during a winter storm. The delivery of his son goes well. However, when he delivers his daughter Phoebe, he realizes that she was born with Down syndrome. In a split moment, he decides he does not want to keep her and hands over the baby to the attending nurse Caroline. He tells Caroline to take her to a home. When his wife, Norah, wakes up he tells her their daughter died. This decision haunts him for the rest of his life. The book explores the effects this secret has on everyone involved- from the nurse who decides to keep and raise Phoebe as her daughter to Paul her twin brother who craves his father's attention throughout his life.

The initial story line was good, but the story focuses too much on the characters inner turmoils and behaviors that sometimes seem unwarranted. For example, Paul seems to hate his father, but you do not understand where this hatred stems from since David has not done anything to his son that would deserve this kind of treatment (at least not anything that is explained to the reader). In addition, the distance that grows between Norah and David would be understandable if Norah was reacting to David's deception, but she does not learn about her daughter for many years so her animosity toward her husband is not easily understood. Although I thought some of the story line was weak, it does get the reader thinking about life and the consequences of our decisions.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Kim Edwards’s stunning family drama evokes the spirit of Sue Miller and Alice Sebold, articulating every mother’s silent fear: what would happen if you lost your child and she grew up without you? In 1964, when a blizzard forces Dr. David Henry to deliver his own twins, he immediately recognizes that one of them has Down Syndrome and makes a split-second decision that will haunt all their lives forever. He asks his nurse to take the baby away to an institution and to keep her birth a secret. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child as her own. Compulsively readable and deeply moving, The Memory Keeper’s Daughter is an astonishing tale of redemptive love. BACKCOVER: “Edwards is a born novelist. . . . Rich with psychological detail and the nuances of human connection.”
—Chicago Tribune

“Unfolds from an absolutely gripping premise, drawing you deeply and irrevocably into the entangled lives of two families and the devastating secret that shaped them both. I loved this riveting story.”
—Sue Monk Kidd

“Anyone would be struck by the extraordinary power and sympathy of The Memory Keeper’s Daughter.”
—The Washington Post

“Kim Edwards has written a novel so mesmerizing that I devoured it. . . . The Memory Keeper’s Daughter has it all.”
—Sena Jeter Naslund

“Kim Edwards has created a tale of regret and redemption, of honest emotion, of characters haunted by their past. This is simply a beautiful book.”
—Jodi Picoult

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