Review: The Memory Keeper's Daughter

I actually read The Memory Keeper's Daughter, by Kim Edwards, a few weeks ago when I was travelling for work and completely forgot to review it.

I definitely wanted to cover this one because it was one of those rare books where I had to reschedule dinner plans so I could come home and finish the book. It probably wasn't the BEST book to read just days after having a miscarriage, because the first chapter is completely focused on childbirth, but the plot of this book just drew me in completely.

Here's the gist: David Henry assists his wife, Norah, as she gives birth to their first child in the middle of a snowstorm. The ob/gyn wasn't able to able to get to the hospital in time because of a snowstorm, so David, a physician, delivers his own child. David realizes that his wife is giving birth to twins. The first child, Paul, is healthy, but the second child, a girl named Phoebe, has Down's Syndrome.

The story is set in the early 60s, a time when Down's children rarely lived passed an early age, so David asked the nurse, Caroline, to take the girl to an institution and tells Norah the girl died. His goal was to save his wife the pain and humiliation he witnessed in his own experience with his mentally retarded sister.

Caroline takes the child, but is unable to abandon her and runs away with Phoebe to raise the child as her own.

However, David's knee jerk deception shapes the rest of all the lives involved for years to come. David withdraws from his marriage to deal with the guilt. Norah always feels the loss of a child who actually exists and pulls away from David. Paul, the remaining child witnesses his parents emotional separation from each other and is forced to choose sides, which most of the time was this mother's.

On the flip side, Caroline witnesses Phoebe grow much older and much happier than she would have imagined.

I won't spoil the ending, but this story was a very sweet and at times heart wrenching. I am always amazed when an author is able to write a book where every single character touches me somehow.

I heartily recommend this one.