Book Review- The Memory Keeper's Daughter

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

David Henry, a physician in the 60's delivers his twin babies himself due to a terrible snow storm. Norah, his wife, delivers a perfectly healthy boy and then surprisingly, a baby girl. The baby girl has Down Syndrome and knowing that her life will be difficult and wanting to save Norah the grief, David decides to have his nurse take her to an institution for "the feeble minded". Caroline, however, decides on a better alternative and disappears with the child, while Norah is told by David that Phoebe was stillborn.

I enjoyed most parts of the book, mostly during the sections with Caroline and Phoebe. I loved reading about her growth and successes and the activism by Caroline to get Phoebe into school. I was ashamed and saddened by the comments mentioned by others in the story and by David's and later Paul's use of the word "retarded" to describe her.

The sections that focused on David and Norah were at times hard to get through. The sadness and self-hate were hard to read, all because of this secret that caused more damage to their family than keeping their daughter would have. It was hard for me to have sympathy for David. All his troubles with his son and his wife were brought on by himself, by the secret he kept, by giving up his daughter.

3/5

A to Z Challenge (M)