A #1 New York Times bestseller by Kim Edwards, The Memory Keeper’s Daughter is a brilliantly crafted novel of parallel lives, familial secrets, and the redemptive power of loveKim Edwards’s stunning novel begins on a winter night in 1964 in Lexington, Kentucky, when a blizzard forces Dr. David Henry to deliver his own twins. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy, but the doctor immediately … healthy, but the doctor immediately recognizes that his daughter has Down syndrome. Rationalizing it as a need to protect Norah, his wife, he makes a split second decision that will alter all of their lives forever. He asks his nurse, Caroline, to take the baby away to an institution and never to reveal the secret. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child herself. So begins this beautifully told story that unfolds over a quarter of a century—in which these two families, ignorant of each other, are yet bound by the fateful decision made that winter night long ago.
A family drama, The Memory Keeper’s Daughter explores every mother’s silent fear: What would happen if you lost your child and she grew up without you? It is also an astonishing tale of love and how the mysterious ties that hold a family together help us survive the heartache that occurs when long-buried secrets are finally uncovered.
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I found the characters to be filled with the best intentions, but flawed in very human ways. a book showing show our decisions can change so many lives. This was a very good read with the author weaving the story with heartfelt emotion and making the reader really “see” each scene playing out.
I loved this story even though parts of it were so sad. Easy reading but a deeply emotional story.
I hated this book. I read it several years ago and to this day still remember how much I didn’t like it. There are so many other good books, don’t waste your time with this one.
Very good read
Call me mental or any other name you choose, but since reading this book a week ago – I can’t shake it off my mind: great writing, excellent book.
The writing of this story is wonderful. Never does one consider how a decision made with good intentions can live and cause unintended consequences for years into the future.
Too wordy with unnecessary descriptives adding nothing to the story.
I love to find a writer who is so original, whose characters are so well drawn. I love to find a book that hooks me emotionally right from the start with a compelling story and words that weave together so beautifully. This is such a book. Do yourself a favor and read it!
This is a wonderful heart breaking, heart healing story.
I really think the title was a misnomer. I spent the majority of the book wondering which of the three adults was the “memory keeper”, and the book was really about Phoebe at all — it was about the other three members of the Henry family.
Growing up handicapped in Pittsburgh in the same time period as this novel was set, I would have liked to have seen more of Carolyn’s struggles on Phoebe’s behalf.
All in all, I liked the story.
I loved the book! It was definitely a tear jerker filled with unpredictable twists and turns.
Tragic with twists of happiness
Too much irrelevant descriptive material. Too much repetition of the same thoughts and feelings. Trying to write from five different viewpoints is over ambitious and confusing. Still, the subject is important and worth exploring.
Excellent book. Great story telling. Everything about it is enjoyable.
I liked this book and having a special needs child who is now in his late 30’s I know what the attitude was about these children at birth and as they grow up, but felt sad that he could never share his growing up experiences with those he loved in this book. Very realistic
So boring, I could not read it.
I cannot imagine going through life knowing the terrible secrets the characters keep from one another. They’re drawn so fully that the reader can empathize with even the worst things the main character does.
Can easily see this come out as a movie.
Lies always come back to haunt you.
The story could have happened to anyone. So many emotions not processed well led to hurt lives.