Kim Edwards' debut novel begins on a wintry March night in 1964 in Lexington, Kentucky. A snowstorm has the city in its grip, and when Norah Henry goes into labor three weeks early, her husband Dr. David Henry is forced to attend to her delivery. Their firstborn, a boy, is perfectly healthy - but his twin sister born moments later is unmistakably a Down's syndrome baby. Convinced that he is protecting his family from a terrible grief, Dr. Henry instructs his nurse, Caroline, to take the baby girl to an institution - and tells Norah that the second child was stillborn. Little does he know that this one impulsive action would have far-reaching consequences for all of them...
Norah is unable to get over the death of her baby daughter. Brimming over with love for her son, Paul, she is nevertheless grieving for her other baby, dreaming of lost things, searching, always searching. David, on the other hand, cannot understand what he thinks is an obsession with the child - he wants her to live in the now, to be there for him and Paul - but he too, is weighed down with his secret. To make matters worse, he finds out that Caroline has the baby, Phoebe, living with her - she could not bring herself to drop Phoebe off at the dank, depressing institution. Instead Caroline moves to Pittsburgh with the baby, determined to start a new life for the both of them.
A whirlwind romance, a deep, enduring love, a solid marriage - on the surface, the Henrys have it all. But the loss of their daughter has changed them forever. David's secret lies like an invisible wall between them. As Paul grows, the couple grows further apart - until they are total strangers to each other. Norah struggles with a drinking problem, and has a number of affairs; David immerses himself in a new hobby - photography. He becomes the 'memory keeper' - but the one memory he would like to obliterate continues to haunt him.
This is a really poignant, heart-wrenching book about the choices we make, the paths we choose. Norah's bewilderment, her frustration and her sense of loss are sharply etched - and while I wanted to give her a good shake and tell her to get a grip, I could also understand why she acts the way she does. It would be easy to dismiss David as a callous, hard-hearted individual - but as in life, nothing is completely black and white in the book. David's past - his younger sister born with a heart defect, her subsequent death, the constant worry and anguish of his parents, his own conflicted feelings for his sister - all this baggage plays a big role in the decision he takes on that fateful night. He genuinely believes that he is sparing his wife and son a lifetime of pain. It is ironical that he is powerless to stop Norah and Paul from drifting away, the very family he tried so hard to protect crumbling away to nothing.
Caroline's choices are a little hard to understand at first. She has been in love with David, and is taking the baby merely her way to stay linked to him, to hold on to him in some way? She does bring up Phoebe as her own, which is no easy feat. The problems of raising a mentally challenged child are very complex, especially when, as Caroline finds out, the child grows into an adult, struggling to find a place in the world. Caroline's struggle to give Phoebe her independence while trying to keep her safe is beautifully portrayed.
What I loved the most about the book is that there is no all loose ends tied up, walk off into the sunset happy ending. Instead the book opens up possibilities of new beginnings. Yes, Norah meets her daughter, and Paul meets his sister - but they are both surprised to find that Phoebe is very happy in her little world, and finding a new mother and brother does not mean that she will abandon the family she already has! They all have to find a way past all the lost years, and the first step for both Norah and Paul would be forgiving David. Their lives could have been different, but what happened, happened - and now, they have to move on!
Incredibly hard to put down, The Memory Keeper's Daughter is a spellbinding novel. I would highly recommend it - just make sure you grab that box of tissues before you start! Happy Reading!
Norah is unable to get over the death of her baby daughter. Brimming over with love for her son, Paul, she is nevertheless grieving for her other baby, dreaming of lost things, searching, always searching. David, on the other hand, cannot understand what he thinks is an obsession with the child - he wants her to live in the now, to be there for him and Paul - but he too, is weighed down with his secret. To make matters worse, he finds out that Caroline has the baby, Phoebe, living with her - she could not bring herself to drop Phoebe off at the dank, depressing institution. Instead Caroline moves to Pittsburgh with the baby, determined to start a new life for the both of them.
A whirlwind romance, a deep, enduring love, a solid marriage - on the surface, the Henrys have it all. But the loss of their daughter has changed them forever. David's secret lies like an invisible wall between them. As Paul grows, the couple grows further apart - until they are total strangers to each other. Norah struggles with a drinking problem, and has a number of affairs; David immerses himself in a new hobby - photography. He becomes the 'memory keeper' - but the one memory he would like to obliterate continues to haunt him.
This is a really poignant, heart-wrenching book about the choices we make, the paths we choose. Norah's bewilderment, her frustration and her sense of loss are sharply etched - and while I wanted to give her a good shake and tell her to get a grip, I could also understand why she acts the way she does. It would be easy to dismiss David as a callous, hard-hearted individual - but as in life, nothing is completely black and white in the book. David's past - his younger sister born with a heart defect, her subsequent death, the constant worry and anguish of his parents, his own conflicted feelings for his sister - all this baggage plays a big role in the decision he takes on that fateful night. He genuinely believes that he is sparing his wife and son a lifetime of pain. It is ironical that he is powerless to stop Norah and Paul from drifting away, the very family he tried so hard to protect crumbling away to nothing.
Caroline's choices are a little hard to understand at first. She has been in love with David, and is taking the baby merely her way to stay linked to him, to hold on to him in some way? She does bring up Phoebe as her own, which is no easy feat. The problems of raising a mentally challenged child are very complex, especially when, as Caroline finds out, the child grows into an adult, struggling to find a place in the world. Caroline's struggle to give Phoebe her independence while trying to keep her safe is beautifully portrayed.
What I loved the most about the book is that there is no all loose ends tied up, walk off into the sunset happy ending. Instead the book opens up possibilities of new beginnings. Yes, Norah meets her daughter, and Paul meets his sister - but they are both surprised to find that Phoebe is very happy in her little world, and finding a new mother and brother does not mean that she will abandon the family she already has! They all have to find a way past all the lost years, and the first step for both Norah and Paul would be forgiving David. Their lives could have been different, but what happened, happened - and now, they have to move on!
Incredibly hard to put down, The Memory Keeper's Daughter is a spellbinding novel. I would highly recommend it - just make sure you grab that box of tissues before you start! Happy Reading!
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