Helpful Score: 88
This book is a difficult read for those that don't remember times before we "mainstreamed" children with developmental and physical handicaps. The Memory Keeper's Daughter was a selection for my book club, and those younger than 40 found the storyline unbelievable.
Since I am 50+, I gave birth to my first child much like Norah did, drugged and delirious, although it was in a hospital. Someone could have told my my child died, and I couldn't have proven differently. I also remember as a child, friends and neighbors of my mothers who went to the hospital to have babies, and told people that they had stillborns, but there weren't funerals, and the whispers.
This is a well-written book about courage, and love, pain, grief and guilt and how different all that was in 1960.
Since I am 50+, I gave birth to my first child much like Norah did, drugged and delirious, although it was in a hospital. Someone could have told my my child died, and I couldn't have proven differently. I also remember as a child, friends and neighbors of my mothers who went to the hospital to have babies, and told people that they had stillborns, but there weren't funerals, and the whispers.
This is a well-written book about courage, and love, pain, grief and guilt and how different all that was in 1960.
Helpful Score: 85
I found this book, trite, predictable and overly wrought with sentimental platitudes. The story isn't that original or exciting, and the characters are shallow and easy to dislike. Although many others really enjoy this book-as it has been on the best sellers list, i just couldn't stand it. If you like the Hallmark channel and Little House on the Prairie, you'll probably like this.
Helpful Score: 58
This book started out fantastic and then abuptly slid downhill without hope for recovery. Don't read if the synopsis on the back cover intrigues you because it hints that the book it something it isn't. Not what I was expecting at all. Characters are two dimensional, prose is long and carried out. I had to force myself to finish this book. I rarely ever read a book I don't like, this just happens to fall into that minute category.
Helpful Score: 44
I had to force myself to keep picking this one up to finish it. I wanted to know what happened in the end, but I felt like it took forever to get there.
Helpful Score: 42
Although well received, I did not find this book very compelling. Full of predictable cliches, the book was a disappointment.
Helpful Score: 31
There was only one reason that I kept reading to the end - I wanted to find out if the biological mother would find out "the secret." I was bored with the details, I found myself skipping a few pages.
Helpful Score: 27
It probably doesn't matter what I write because this book is very much in demand. I liked it, but not as much as I thought I would.It is based on the premise that the death of a twin child at birth, never seen by the Mother, would affect all of the events of her and her family's lives for the rest of their lives. Norah is the mother and is not a real sympathetic character. I believe that her behavior makes more sense as a reaction to her cold,controlling, secretive husband than to the death of her child at birth.
It is very readable and much more likable if you go along with the motivations presented by the author rather than what makes sense to you(or in this case, me.)
It is very readable and much more likable if you go along with the motivations presented by the author rather than what makes sense to you(or in this case, me.)
Helpful Score: 20
I had no idea this novel would be so hard to put down -- the story is compelling, the characters are intensely real, and Edwards' writing offers great description and internal monologue of these characters keeping the reader guessing. She forces us to look from different perspectives and to really care about these people...it's a great book...
Helpful Score: 19
After all the hype I really expected this to be a fantastic book, but it turned out to be only so-so. I liked it ok but I am a bit disappointed.
Helpful Score: 17
Kim Edwards is a wonderful writer. Her discriptions make you feel like you are right there looking at the photographs or in the car driving along looking at the landscape. It was a heart renching story of a broken family due to one life changing decision. I would highly recommend this book.
Helpful Score: 7
Poignant read that will stay with me for a long time. Highly readable - even a page turner. I stayed up really late to finish it. Story in which there are no good solutions, and one man's actions affect his family forever.
Helpful Score: 7
The story is a cautionary tale about family secrets and their destructive power even when the secret remains hidden. This is an amazing and uplifting story given the subject matter. I finished the book over two evenings. The ending was believable and satisfying. Edwards has a beautiful way with words. I was hooked on the story from the first page. Yes, it drags a bit in the middle but the details of the intervening years are important to understanding the characters.
Helpful Score: 6
I absolutely loved this book. It's one of the best that I have ever read. The story kept my attention from start to finish. It's sad to think that things like this actually happen, but it also lets us know that things do happen for a reason and the outcome is not always bad for everyone involved. Great read that I know you'll enjoy!
Helpful Score: 6
Character driven plot about a family. Lovely prose. This is not the sort of story that I usually like, but it was so well written that I enjoyed it just for the language.
I thought that it was touching and sad, but not too sad to be enjoyable. The characters were very realistic and I felt like I knew them by the end of the book.
I thought that it was touching and sad, but not too sad to be enjoyable. The characters were very realistic and I felt like I knew them by the end of the book.
Helpful Score: 6
This is a NYT bestseller. A doctor in the sixties has to deliver his wife during a snowstorm. She has two babies - the first is perfect but the second has Down's Syndrome. He gives the second baby to the nurse and tells her to bring her to an institution. He tells his wife the baby has died. The nurse, however, decides to raise the baby as her own in another city.
This book is, quite simply, haunting. Over several decades, everyone's lives are changed by one person's unthinkable secret. I loved the way the author portrayed the internal lives of the characters. Four stars.
This book is, quite simply, haunting. Over several decades, everyone's lives are changed by one person's unthinkable secret. I loved the way the author portrayed the internal lives of the characters. Four stars.
Helpful Score: 6
I read this so fast I wanted to read it again. Very moving and touching story. Keeps you guessing what will be next. Wish other things had happened in the end but was a great book.
Helpful Score: 6
I was really looking forward to reading this book as the theme of the story was really interesting to me, but I did not enjoy this as much as I would have liked to. There were too many "rabbit trails." Too many trips into David and Norah's past. I know the author was trying to tie the events of the past to those of the character's present, but it was too much. I found myself thinking, "Would you please just get on with it." Once I FINALLY got to the end I was actually really pleased with the way the story ended. I don't like the sappy everything is suddenly perfect "happily ever after endings." So the fact that it had a very realistic ending was pleasing to me! If you have the time and a strong enough interest it isn't a bad story it just takes so long to get through it!
Helpful Score: 6
I really enjoyed this book. It tells the story line of two families which are both affected by a doctors choice to give away his newborn daughter at birth because she has Downe's Syndrome. Then he lies to his family that the baby had died. This book really made me feel thankful and blessed to have my own children and family - but at the same time how insidious lies can be, even if we think they are well hidden.
Helpful Score: 5
Kim Edwards' novel, The Memory Keeper's Daughter, proved to be an excellent choice. It is a wonderful debut for this promising writer. The story is compelling and the telling well crafted. Fascinating account of a man's choice one wintry evening, and the unfolding consequences through the rest of his life, and that of his family.
Helpful Score: 5
This story will pull on every emotion you possess. I think this would be an incredibly difficult story to tell yet Edwards pulls it off. You will come to know the characters and believe every move they make. Very well written.
Helpful Score: 5
I read this in one evening. Couldn't put it down. Beautifully written with compassion and feeling. I was mesmerized from the first page to the dramatic ending. Kim Edwards wrote a truly spectacular novel.
Helpful Score: 5
This was a really great book. Very sad. Some parts had me crying, while other parts had me so frustrated I couldn't put the book down until I found out what happened next.
The writing is amazing and I can see why this book has been on the best seller list for so long.
You really get to know every single character in this book so much that every hurt they feel, you feel as well.
The writing is amazing and I can see why this book has been on the best seller list for so long.
You really get to know every single character in this book so much that every hurt they feel, you feel as well.
Helpful Score: 5
This is a great book! Fast read it kept me very interested in it.
Helpful Score: 5
One of the most outstanding and extrememly well-written books I have read in a long time. No wonder it was on the NYT best sellers list. Great psychological development of the characters and truly complelling. Great scope in feelings and plot.
Helpful Score: 5
Really great book! Kept me glued to the pages when I could squeeze in time to read it. Powerful, sad, insightful.
Helpful Score: 5
This book touched my heart. I have a niece with down syndrome and have experienced the trials that this condition will put you through. I was touched by the way The nurse in the book accepted the disabilities of the wonderful child and fought to have her treated as any other person would expect to be. This book is full of love, trials, and heartache. It is a book that will touch your heart and make you appreciate the life you have.
Helpful Score: 4
I am half-way through this book and am finding it hard to continue as it is so depressing. I feel like I am wrapped in a heavy blanket in the dark when reading this. Very little joyeousness in the book. Not fond of her writing style though it is not terrible. I may not finish the book, which is something I've only done with 3 books in my 63 years. Just too depressing. If I do complete it, it will only be because I want to find out what the end brings...though I've been told by those who have read it, it continues in this manner throughout the book. Let's just say that if and when she write another book, I definitely will not read it.
This is possibly one of *the* worst books I have ever read. Great premise - terrible storyline and execution. Not only is the writing marginal, but the author re-uses the same hokey imagery over and over "quicksilver child", "thin hair, held back with barettes". There is little redeeming about the characters, and the subplots are simply unbelievable. Don't waste a credit or your time on this one. If I were the publisher, I'd be embarrassed.
Helpful Score: 4
I really really wanted to like this book. It started out ok but I was really disappointed at some of the turns that the characters took. I guess I was hoping for everyone's lives to go in different directions than they did. It was well written just not something that I really enjoyed.
Helpful Score: 4
This is a wonderful book, very moving and thought provking. The actions of a family can cause a loss for a generation forward.
Helpful Score: 4
This was a great book, you felt compelled to read to finish. Her writing kept you interested and was not too difficult to follow.
Helpful Score: 4
I didn't really care for this book or the author's writing at all. The story started interesting enough but it was just page after page of poorly written whining for past mistakes. Too much detail on unimportant matters and not enough on those that were. I felt this book to be so scattered. Reminded me of a bad VC Andrews book.
Helpful Score: 4
A beautiful story with a few tear-jerker chapters. Definitely recommended.
Helpful Score: 3
Pretty good but not unforgettable.
Helpful Score: 3
This really is not that good of a book. I mean, I understand the era difference, but I don't think the story is that good. It is not well written, the idea is good, but it drags on forever, this book may have been okay at 230 pages, but at 401 it is a drag and it never gets better, mark it off of your TBR and find something else, I wish I would have!
Helpful Score: 3
It was heartbreaking! An absolutely stunning novel about a life no one can quite comprehend.
Helpful Score: 3
I thought this book was so lovely. It seemed like everyone had read it and it always was popping up as a suggestion for me on this website so I decided to go ahead and read it. You get to know each of the characters so intimately and understand their pain and hardships. It makes you look at your own life and understand how one split second decision can shape your entire future. I loved it.
Helpful Score: 3
Rather even-toned (little plot) book, fair writing, but I didn't think much of this one.
Helpful Score: 3
A young doctor gives up his daughter after she is not born the picture of health, without the knowledge of the mother, to his nursing assistant. She flees with the infant. The infant's mother struggles with this unidentifiable loss, and goes into a depression that makes the doctor regret his actions. I found this book to be sorely over-rated with its implausible story and flat characters. It doesn't leave much to think about afterwards.
Helpful Score: 3
My daughter was born with Down's Syndrome 36 years ago. So this story was a compelling read for me. I did enjoy the story and found it beautiful and more inspiring than I expected, as I've experienced the prejudice and misinformation regarding this disability. Nothing to be ashamed of in this story - Kim Edwards did a fine job.
Helpful Score: 3
This book is really great. There is no way you can figure it all out but the reader is sure engaged while you are reading. The author gets you to think about the awfulness of the husband at the same time you feel so much sympathy for his weakness as a man.
Helpful Score: 3
Great read. Touching account of how one decision -no matter what the intentions are- can send out shockwaves for many years and change the lives of those directly involved as well as countless others.
Helpful Score: 3
I loved this book. One lie leads to two then a life time of lies. One lie ruins one marriage and then one family. I could see this actually happening and what a waste of a life living this lie would truely be. This book was easy for me to feel the heartbreak and power each character had. After reading you will be thinking about this book for awhile.
Helpful Score: 3
I found this book to be well written, although predictable at times and a litte slow in parts.
I found this book a very slow read for me, not sure why because it was a very emotional storyline. The feelings of each character were very well developed. Very descriptive. Even though it was slow for me, I found myself returning to it, to find out what happened next. Had a couple very unexpected turns, that I found quite shocking. All in all, I would recommend it as a good book to read.
Helpful Score: 3
I think of this book as a good beach read: it definitely kept my attention and was a page-turner, but I don't feel any desire to ever re-read it. I think it dealt very well with the issue of Down's syndrome, and treated the subject with respect while avoiding cloying sentimentality. The characters were interesting, although I sometimes found their reactions to be too melodramatic. Something about the ending seemed a bit abrupt and unsatisfying. It's a well-written and thought-provoking book that doesn't insult your intelligence like some beach reads. However, for me, it ultimately fell short of being a truly great book. Still, I would recommend it, particularly as a book club choice, since there is a lot to discuss.
OH My! I can't say enough about this book! It is superb. I picked it up and read every spare moment I got! The story line is without a doubt one of the best. It is one of those books that as you read, you feel like you personally know the characters. They are just that vivid. I wont go into what it is about because you can read that for yourself but just know it would be worth it if you paid full price for it. I almost kept it but saw that there were ppl waiting on the wish list and keeping would be so selfish! I know I am rambling on but you won't be disappointed in this book. It is one you will stay up late reading and go to work sleepy cause you stayed up! Enjoy!
Helpful Score: 3
Not as good as I thought it was going to be. Book is slow but the story itself is interesting. Didn't get too involved with the writer's style because it was too simplistic for me.
Helpful Score: 3
One of those books you think about long after you've finished it.
Helpful Score: 3
I read this book back in October of 2007 and absolutely loved it. The writing to me was at times like poetry.
I really thought the premise of the book was very unique. I was surprised to find myself more interested in the Caroline/Phoebe part of the story than David and Norah. It was hard to warm up to them. I suppose one of the messages in this story is how lives can be changed with a lie. I got the impression that the author wanted us to imagine how different things would have turned out had David not made the decision that he did. Honestly, in my opinion I am still dubious as to what the outcome of David and Norah's marriage would have been had he not lied about Phoebe. Would Phoebe really have had a "better" life? I am certainly not condoning what David did but Phoebe was raised by a truly wonderful and loving mother who fought for her rights. I just somehow don't get the feeling that David and Norah had the same strength that Caroline did. But I am one that likes to play Devil's advocate.
It is definitely a novel you won't long forget.
I really thought the premise of the book was very unique. I was surprised to find myself more interested in the Caroline/Phoebe part of the story than David and Norah. It was hard to warm up to them. I suppose one of the messages in this story is how lives can be changed with a lie. I got the impression that the author wanted us to imagine how different things would have turned out had David not made the decision that he did. Honestly, in my opinion I am still dubious as to what the outcome of David and Norah's marriage would have been had he not lied about Phoebe. Would Phoebe really have had a "better" life? I am certainly not condoning what David did but Phoebe was raised by a truly wonderful and loving mother who fought for her rights. I just somehow don't get the feeling that David and Norah had the same strength that Caroline did. But I am one that likes to play Devil's advocate.
It is definitely a novel you won't long forget.
Helpful Score: 2
This is very good read! Very touching story about the challenges of not having a perfect life and dealing with Disabilities and the publics attitude towards them, including parents.
Helpful Score: 2
I liked this story well enough to get through it enjoyably, but I probably would not re-read it. It's probably not for everyone, and might translate better to the older generation - the generation who grew up in the 50's and 60's that remembers a time when doctors were not always forthright with what was going on. The characters manage to be sympathetic despite their flaws, and when I reached the end, I found myself being very curious about what happened next, for all of them. A doctor delivers his own twins during a snowstorm (his wife is heavily drugged) and he immediately recognizes the signs of down syndrome in the little girl. He makes a snap decision, keeps the healthy boy twin, and sends the little girl off with the nurse to be institutionalized. He tells his wife that it was twins, and that the girl died at birth. One lie begets another, and we see the consequences wrought on all of their lives as a result of the doctor's initial lie. That's the one part of the story I didn't understand - if he was so determined to hide the down syndrome little girl from his wife, why say there were twins at all? In her haze, she would have believed that she'd just had the one healthy boy. I suppose, however, that without her characters' being haunted by the loss of her baby, the story would have been quite different. That was really my only objection. Otherwise, a pretty solidly interesting story. Not bad, not great.
Helpful Score: 2
I picked up this book as an airport read during a long cross-country flight, knowing nothing more than what I read on the back cover. I enjoyed the book for what it was - something to entertain me while I traveled. It wasn't as compelling as I'd hoped, but was interesting enough to finish. It started out stronger than it ended, eliciting strong emotions about how anyone can be so cruel, rejecting their own child. Once you realize where the story is going, there are few surprises. I do wish I'd gotten it as a trade rather than paying full price in an airport!
Helpful Score: 2
I loved this book. It was hard to read and at the same time hard to put down.
The subject matter is quite compelling and I enjoyed learning some medical history I was not aware of before. Unfortunately the characters were depressed & negative and seemed to stay that way most of the story. I was somewhat disappointed with the ending. Worth reading once.
Helpful Score: 2
A beautiful story of love, loss, deception and catharsis. Well written and moving.
Helpful Score: 2
A well written story I just couldn't get into. It took me quite a few days to get through the first few chapters and I needed to find lighter reading.
Helpful Score: 2
It is hard to put this one down, you can't wait to find out what happens to the characters. Parallel stories over the years have you wondering what is goign on from the other perspective and anxious for an update. A compelling story and very realistic chracters. A great example of how a lie builds on another lie, builds on another lie.
Helpful Score: 2
I was excited at the premise of the book, but the actual story left me short. While I found most of it interesting, the characters were not likeable, even the ones I feel were supposed to be. It dragged at times, not a page turner (except the beginning). While other reviews said the book was overly sentimental, I did not agree. I did find the portrayal of the failing marriage to be well written. I liked the book, but did not love it. It COULD have been so much better, but I'd say it is worth reading.
Helpful Score: 2
I did not like this book at all. It was too hard to believe that someone could do what the main character did and not try and fix it at any point. I cannot believe this book is so popular.
This was a pretty good book. It was very detailed and descriptive in everything. Their thoughts, their feelings, their surroundings...everything! The story line wasn't too bad.
Helpful Score: 2
This book, although it came highly recommended and well-sold, was slow to unfold and the ending was such a let down. Perhaps I had hoped for a happier resolution, but it was apparent, toward the end of the story, that there was no way the author could create an neat tie-up.
Not sure how this book became a best-seller. I'm glad I just spent the cost of postage to read it.
Not sure how this book became a best-seller. I'm glad I just spent the cost of postage to read it.
Helpful Score: 2
During a snowstorm in 1964, Norah Henry goes into labor. Unable to reach the hospital, Norah's husband meets his nurse at his orthopedic practice, and delivers his healthy son Paul into the world. A few minutes later a second child is born, a girl with Down's syndrome. David Henry makes a split second decision, one that will haunt him all his life. He tells his nurse to take the child to an institution nearby. He then waits for his wife to awaken from the anesthesia, and tells her the child has died and been taken away for burial. Unbeknownst to David however, the nurse Caroline takes does not leave the baby at the institution. Carefully planning her disappearance, she leaves town and raises the child as her own.
A multi-layered look at the destruction lies and deception can take on a family, even when the lie is told with the best intentions. Following the lives of the two families, the Henry family, slowly being destroyed by a lie that only one of them knows, and Caroline's struggles as a single mother raising a special needs child, Edwards adroitly weaves the two separate tales until the convergence of the story lines near the end of the book. Well written, if repetitive at times, I couldn't stop reading until I found out what the end of the story would bring.
A multi-layered look at the destruction lies and deception can take on a family, even when the lie is told with the best intentions. Following the lives of the two families, the Henry family, slowly being destroyed by a lie that only one of them knows, and Caroline's struggles as a single mother raising a special needs child, Edwards adroitly weaves the two separate tales until the convergence of the story lines near the end of the book. Well written, if repetitive at times, I couldn't stop reading until I found out what the end of the story would bring.
Helpful Score: 2
I splurged and bought this full price, because I wanted something good to read. It was very slow in the beginning....but it was intriguing enough that I wanted to keep reading more and more, and when I put it down, I was anticipating what was yet to happen. It wasn't until about 3/4 of the way through the book that it got really interesting, and the ending was kind of a surprise. Overall, the book was good - not worth paying full price, but not a waste of your time either.
Helpful Score: 2
The premise of this book was really intriguing and seemed there would be no way to mess it up. However, I was not really invested in the charachters and this was not a page-turner for me. It was a good story, but I just did't really feel involved or compelled to continue reading. I realize I may be in the minority here, but I am not overwhelmed by this book. A decent read, though.
Helpful Score: 2
This is an excellent book! I started reading it and couldnt put it down. It was really sad story in some parts though.. but a very good ending. Dont miss this one.
Helpful Score: 2
I had heard such good things about this so was anxious to read it. I was a bit disappointed. I struggled to get through it and basically kept going because I wanted to see how the Norah found out about the baby, etc. I really wanted to like this one but felt it didn't live up to the hype I'd heard about it. I ended up skimming to get to the end, and to me, the ending was pretty anticlimactic. But that's just my opinion.....
Helpful Score: 2
I was mesmerized by the story during the first 100 pages, holding my breath to see what would happen with Norah's baby. After that, this book was simply a long, drawn out, uninteresting story about a bunch of depressed characters who can't have meaningful relationships with anyone. Everything that happens in the last 150 pages could have been cut out and it would have been just as well. I finished it anyway, but found myself wondering why the author kept writing. There were several repeated sentences, repeated phrases, and repeated cliche's. The plot was intriguing but the characters and events as they are told leave a lot to be desired.
Helpful Score: 2
The story is so compelling. This one was hard to put down. I wanted to see what became of the futures of all the characters and their own fight for their own survival... As dysfunctional as they may have turned out to be. Good read.
Helpful Score: 2
While this book was certainly engaging, I probably won't read it again. It had an interesting story that was written poorly. The writer tries to be very detailed and picturesque but it comes off as distracting after awhile and forced. A good book, but not a classic. I'm not sure why it's such a bestseller... I found it to be a subpar version of "The Lovely Bones."
Helpful Score: 2
This book was drawn out, unfulfilling, and worst of all, I didn't care.
There was very little action, and what little plot movement there was left me rolling my eyes. Then something would get built up and then skipped right past.
None of the characters were very interesting, nor were there lives.
Don't waste your time on this one.
There was very little action, and what little plot movement there was left me rolling my eyes. Then something would get built up and then skipped right past.
None of the characters were very interesting, nor were there lives.
Don't waste your time on this one.
Helpful Score: 2
wonderfully written... the dialogue is superb... in the same style and feel of the secret life of bees... and the mermaid chair
Helpful Score: 2
With all the hype of a bestseller, thought I would love this, but it bogged down and it was a struggle to get thru it.
Helpful Score: 2
I spent the entire book being angry. I found virtually all of the characters frustrating. What I wanted to hear about most - how the daughter grows up and manages through life - was hardly a part of this complicated novel. Not a book I'd reread, but I didn't hate it.
Helpful Score: 2
After much hesitation, I started this book and amazingly I finished it in 4 days. Good Book!
Helpful Score: 2
To me this book wasn't/isn't plausible.
i read it but didn't buy into it.
i read it but didn't buy into it.
Helpful Score: 2
I enjoyed this book. It's a tough story, but very heartfelt.
Helpful Score: 2
A multi-layered drama with many twists and turns. A treat to read.
Helpful Score: 2
I am a fast reader and I could not get past page 15 of this book. It was boring! Didn't like it at all.
Helpful Score: 2
So depressing towards the end I said enough already and skimmed the last two chapters.
Helpful Score: 2
A life changing moment happens when a Downs Syndrome child is born to a doctor and his young wife. In one unchangeable moment the doctor makes a decision that has consequences that profoundly affect the lives of not only the baby girl, but many other people as well. Very well written!
Helpful Score: 2
I thought that this book was good but not great. I liked how it ended even though it was sad how Norah and the situation ended up. I would have so much anger if my spouse ever did something like Norah's husband did.
Helpful Score: 2
I stayed up very late in the morning to finish this fantastic book. The interweaving of "the secret" in this story with the characters's lives was exquisite. It taught the age old proverb of "you reap what you sow". I loved it.
Helpful Score: 2
While the theme of the book was extremely interesting to me, I found that it was too slow paced and emotionally draining for me to feel as though I'd enjoyed the book. Instead it felt like an assignment, a task, that I felt it necessary to complete in order to move onto something more enjoyable.
Helpful Score: 2
Wow, love this sad story. Truly a good one!
Helpful Score: 2
Not my cup of tea, but it was a well written story with believeable characters who face the consequences of their decisions.
Helpful Score: 2
Very melancholy- but also so real-you can feel the pain
Helpful Score: 2
I was disappointed with this book. For a national bestseller, I would have hoped for more. I found the characters boring and shallow, and the story dragged on forever. I ended up skipping pages to get to the end quicker.
Helpful Score: 2
I am someone who has worked in the field of developmental disabilities for over 30 years so I was drawn to this book. I wanted to read about the traumas related to this and how people thought about it decades ago in a narrative form verses an academic historical framework. I found it an excellent book, well written, and one of the few books I have read in my life that I could not put down once I started it. This book will be on my list of favorite books ever read, and it ended up being that because of the moral lesson it taught.
Helpful Score: 2
I had a hard time reading this book- It seemed pretty slow to me and as a mom with young kids, it was just hard to read emotionally. It was like driving by an accident- I wanted to stop reading, but I felt like I had to finish. I ended up skipping the last 1/4th of the book and just reading the end, which I NEVER do, but it was just a slow, kinda depressing book.
Helpful Score: 2
It took me forever to get through this book. I wanted to get into it, but just couldn't. It also made me a little depressed when reading it! Everyone seemed miserable and on edge which made me miserable too!
Helpful Score: 2
I had such high hopes for it and it just... blah! If I could have read the book strictly from Caroline's point of view, I may have liked it better... but everything seemed to revolve around Norah. What an awful character. Yes, the loss of a child shapes a mother greatly... but Norah had NO redeeming qualities. I felt like David was much more of a victim, a victim of his own terrible actions, but those actions were truly in the best interest of Phoebe... And Paul! Another cruddy character. One of the worst books I've ever read, terribly long-winded, filled with people you couldn't care less about. This book could have been SO much better. I wanted to know more about Caroline and Phoebe's actual life, their struggles, their hopes and dreams, how they made it... As another reviewer commented, it is NOTHING like the synopsis on the back. There's no actual plot, no real storyline... just... blah. Page after page of "This has got to be better..." and then, bam! The End! Ick!
Helpful Score: 2
Blah. Another touchy feeling chick book. Could NOT relate with the spoiled, dramatic character of the mother - so the book lacked a certain (and probably necessary) sympathy with me. Wasn't impressed with her writing style either.
Helpful Score: 1
I liked the drama of this book and found it to be a captivating read. The turmoil of the families involved in the writing is tremendous and it really makes one think. While the subject matter is difficult, it is still a really good book.
Helpful Score: 1
a steady read... kept me turning pages just to see how it would end.
Helpful Score: 1
This husband in the book really bothered me with his decision and to forever lie about it. Back cover says, "This stunning novel begins on a winter night in 1964, when a blizzard forces Dr. David Henry to deliver his own twins. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy, but the doctor immediately recognizes that his daughter has Down's syndrome. For motives he tells himself are good, he makes a split-second decision that will haunt all their lives forever. He asks his nurse, Caroline, to take the baby away to an institution. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child as her own. Compulsively readable and deeply moving. The Memory Keeper's Daughter is a brilliantly crafted story of parallel lives, familial secrets, and the redemptive power of love."
I could not put this book down. It really has a positive side, but the underlying sadness of "forever" broke my heart. I really liked it.
I could not put this book down. It really has a positive side, but the underlying sadness of "forever" broke my heart. I really liked it.
Helpful Score: 1
I found this book boring and contrived. I did read it all the way to the end because I figured I might as well see how it all turns out. As some other reviewers mentioned, there were too many details and they were details put in just to show that the author herself has good taste (in her mind). Drinking wine in France. Buying bread and cheese. Spare modern furniture in a loft with golden wood floors with accents of primary colors. I felt like I was reading about someone in the last 10 years who bought all their furniture from Crate & Barrel or Pottery Barn...not people in the 70's and 80's. Just contrived and pointless. These sorts of books are always so frustrating...reading the characters every meandering thought and how absolutely complicated everything they say and do tends to be. It's not reality...I realize it's a "story", but the best stories have touches of reality and you can live the story with them through that reality. These people just bored me stiff and I couldn't really picture a single one of them. But at least I knew they had good taste,eh?
Helpful Score: 1
Beautifully written, sad but ending with hope....a book worth reading.
Very good story, quick read!
Helpful Score: 1
A great story about how a hasty decision will forever change your life. A doctor decides when he finds one of his twins has Down's syndrome that the baby should be in an institution. But the nurse secretly decides to raise her. A story about human love and secrets.
Helpful Score: 1
I liked the book okay, but I work with kids with developmental disabilities and read it more with a historic perspective. It was predictable, but intriguing at times.
Helpful Score: 1
I found this to be very well-written; the characters were well-drawn, and the story was very compelling. The only flaw is that the author did not do her research into the true lives of professional musicians~ which as a musician I find annoying. Otherwise I loved the book!
Helpful Score: 1
Wonderfully written book about the choices we make, in this case the consequences of one's decision not only on himself but everyone involved. I could no put it down.
Helpful Score: 1
I enjoyed reading this book while I was reading it - but you kind of expect more to happen. Kind of forgetable.
Helpful Score: 1
Interesting story! Some parts seem to drag though
Helpful Score: 1
I thought this book would be more suspenceful than it was, but it was rather slow. Also, it wrapped up quickly, almost as if the author was in a hurry to finish writing it.
Helpful Score: 1
I was enjoying this book, until the ending. I just found the resolution to be completely beyond reasonable belief.
Helpful Score: 1
I liked this book until about 3/4 of the way through. Then it all fell apart for me, becoming rather trite and uninteresting. Many people love this story, and the author is certainly talented, but it just didn't work for me.
Helpful Score: 1
I can't explain it but I "took against" this book from the start. I had picked it up because I had seen a lot of posts about it and thought I might read it some time. But when I finally opened it up to read I just couldn't let go of this feeling. Normally when I start to read a book that I don't feel good about I let go of the prejudice and let the book speak for itself. I just did not do that this time.
It is 1964 and Norah is pregnant. She goes into labor several weeks early and is driven to her doctor's office in a snowstorm because the office is closer than the hospital. Her husband, also a doctor (but an orthopedic surgeon, not a baby doctor), meets his nurse at the office and together they deliver the babies.
David Henry directs the nurse, Caroline, to use gas when directed, to lessen the pain of delivery. Thus Norah is not fully conscious much of the time, and does not even know that she has delivered twins.
One is a normal healthy boy. The other is a girl with unmistakeable Down Syndrome. Dr. Henry is shaken by the girl's condition and makes a split-second decision to direct Caroline to take the baby to an institution immediately. While she is gone, he tells his wife that there were twins but that the girl died.
This is the core episode of the book, and everything after is affected by it.
I started having questions early. Was gas used in 1964? Maybe it still was. Was it likely that twins born over a month early would not have any physical issues and would be of normal healthy weight? I questioned that.
Caroline takes the baby to the institution but finds it a house of horror and she can't leave the baby there. Thus begins her life of lies. She takes off with the baby girl, disappearing from her former life entirely. I had questions here, too. She disappears entirely, leaves no notice, probably does not collect her last paycheck, cleans out her apartment and is gone. Would nobody have gone to the police to report her missing?
The two families then move on with their lives, but everything after is colored with the primary event. I know this is what Edwards was intent on conveying with this story - the ripples, the repercussions, of some decisions. How the decision affects far more than the person who made it. Yet I wondered. The family held a memorial service for little Phoebe, minus the body - Norah did not insist on seeing it and somehow David managed to convince a neighbor that he needed to bury a baby on his land without involving his wife. So there is a stone marking the non-grave.
Without ever having seen the baby, Norah dwells on it over the years. I can see how this might be as it seems unresolved. But she did not know it was unresolved, really. So I wondered about her actions and thoughts twenty years later.
There were incidents that disturbed me simply because I am sensitive to the need to treat animals right. At one time Norah rids the house of a wasp nest by using a vaccuum cleaner to suck up the wasps and then pushing the nozzle into a car's taillight so the wasps wouldn't escape. Why she couldn't call in a professional was a mystery to me, unless she just had to solve everything herself. For my part, I thought it was cruel and was one of the reasons I did not take to Norah.
Caroline at one point is trying to get the young Phoebe to get out of the street, where she is trying to rescue a kitten and Caroline says, "Forget the cat". Although she eventually lets her keep the cat, this type of disregard for a baby animal really got to me.
In the end, I simply did not like any of the characters and I was not moved by their grief at any point. Perhaps I'm just too hard on some characters and perhaps it all comes down to my not wanting to like the book in the first place.
I know many people have loved this book and I trust that it will find its way to another of those readers.
It is 1964 and Norah is pregnant. She goes into labor several weeks early and is driven to her doctor's office in a snowstorm because the office is closer than the hospital. Her husband, also a doctor (but an orthopedic surgeon, not a baby doctor), meets his nurse at the office and together they deliver the babies.
David Henry directs the nurse, Caroline, to use gas when directed, to lessen the pain of delivery. Thus Norah is not fully conscious much of the time, and does not even know that she has delivered twins.
One is a normal healthy boy. The other is a girl with unmistakeable Down Syndrome. Dr. Henry is shaken by the girl's condition and makes a split-second decision to direct Caroline to take the baby to an institution immediately. While she is gone, he tells his wife that there were twins but that the girl died.
This is the core episode of the book, and everything after is affected by it.
I started having questions early. Was gas used in 1964? Maybe it still was. Was it likely that twins born over a month early would not have any physical issues and would be of normal healthy weight? I questioned that.
Caroline takes the baby to the institution but finds it a house of horror and she can't leave the baby there. Thus begins her life of lies. She takes off with the baby girl, disappearing from her former life entirely. I had questions here, too. She disappears entirely, leaves no notice, probably does not collect her last paycheck, cleans out her apartment and is gone. Would nobody have gone to the police to report her missing?
The two families then move on with their lives, but everything after is colored with the primary event. I know this is what Edwards was intent on conveying with this story - the ripples, the repercussions, of some decisions. How the decision affects far more than the person who made it. Yet I wondered. The family held a memorial service for little Phoebe, minus the body - Norah did not insist on seeing it and somehow David managed to convince a neighbor that he needed to bury a baby on his land without involving his wife. So there is a stone marking the non-grave.
Without ever having seen the baby, Norah dwells on it over the years. I can see how this might be as it seems unresolved. But she did not know it was unresolved, really. So I wondered about her actions and thoughts twenty years later.
There were incidents that disturbed me simply because I am sensitive to the need to treat animals right. At one time Norah rids the house of a wasp nest by using a vaccuum cleaner to suck up the wasps and then pushing the nozzle into a car's taillight so the wasps wouldn't escape. Why she couldn't call in a professional was a mystery to me, unless she just had to solve everything herself. For my part, I thought it was cruel and was one of the reasons I did not take to Norah.
Caroline at one point is trying to get the young Phoebe to get out of the street, where she is trying to rescue a kitten and Caroline says, "Forget the cat". Although she eventually lets her keep the cat, this type of disregard for a baby animal really got to me.
In the end, I simply did not like any of the characters and I was not moved by their grief at any point. Perhaps I'm just too hard on some characters and perhaps it all comes down to my not wanting to like the book in the first place.
I know many people have loved this book and I trust that it will find its way to another of those readers.
Helpful Score: 1
The topic did not appeal to me initially, but once I started reading the book I found that the author has an amazing talent in developing characters. Definitely a great book on dysfunctional family dynamics! A+
Helpful Score: 1
I read it in one sitting. The book is much better than the movie!
Helpful Score: 1
This book is worth reading. It was extremely sad at times and it was hard to believe that this could happen not that long ago.
Helpful Score: 1
Not spectacular. I found it boring. I understood that Norah was terribly impacted by the death of her daughter, but need it be mentioned every chapter? "Oh, Norah wished she could have just seen her, if only she could have rescued her. Oh the saddness" It's fine but not 13 times! It gets extremely repetitive. This book is overrated.
Helpful Score: 1
My heart ached for the characters in the story.
Helpful Score: 1
how a lie could change a family
Helpful Score: 1
I read this book for a book club. Everyone in the group loved the book.
Helpful Score: 1
this was a really good read. i enjoyed the story very much, weaving in and out of their lives.
Helpful Score: 1
I did not finish this book. It seemed to jump around too much for me. I do not have a lot of time to read and there may be long periods between chapters.. I often got lost and had to go back.
Helpful Score: 1
Overall, it was a good book. It started to drag for me about half way through, and it took me a while to finish this novel, but I give it 4 stars.
Helpful Score: 1
This was a very good book about a doctor who delivered his own twins. Afraid of his wife being terribly hurt by the Downs Syndrome with which one of the twins was born, he immediately gave the child to his nurse and asked her to take the baby to a home for retarded children. He told his wife the girl baby had died at birth.
The story follows both the family as the boy baby matures, and the nurse as she disappears and builds a life in another city, raising the girl baby as her own. There is the wall that rose between the doctor and his wife; her continuing sense of the girl's presence; the son's feeling that his father didn't love him; the doctor's obsession with photography, trying to capture each moment forever; and the development of the girl as the nurse eventually marries.
It is a realistic picture of the human condition, with redemption and hope at the end. Truly a book worth reading.
The story follows both the family as the boy baby matures, and the nurse as she disappears and builds a life in another city, raising the girl baby as her own. There is the wall that rose between the doctor and his wife; her continuing sense of the girl's presence; the son's feeling that his father didn't love him; the doctor's obsession with photography, trying to capture each moment forever; and the development of the girl as the nurse eventually marries.
It is a realistic picture of the human condition, with redemption and hope at the end. Truly a book worth reading.
Helpful Score: 1
I liked the book. My Grandmother worked for a state hospital and took us on visits there as children. I guess it was to keep us humble. I am 42 now. You wouldn't believe the numbers of Down Syndrome babies that was put into that place at birth. So in my opinion the book is accurate to the time period.
Helpful Score: 1
Tolerable, but not great. This book had potential to be fantastic but I don't feel the writing lived up to story's potential. I think it's worth the read simply because so many people raved about it - it's one of those books you just have to read and form an opinion about yourself.
This is possibly one of *the* worst books I have ever read. Great premise - terrible storyline and execution. Not only is the writing marginal, but the author re-uses the same hokey imagery over and over "quicksilver child", "thin hair, held back with barettes". There is little redeeming about the characters, and the subplots are simply unbelievable. Don't waste a credit or your time on this one. If I were the publisher, I'd be embarrassed.
Helpful Score: 1
Heartbreaking at points yet triumphant... a great read.
Helpful Score: 1
could not get the story out of my head
Helpful Score: 1
Shows how easily one lie will destroy lives. The book was OK but I would never read it again. The characters had no redeeming qualities.
Helpful Score: 1
I thought this was a good book. There are some great comments on the loving nature of Down's Syndrome individuals. I was upset with parts of the ending but don't want to spoil it for anyone. A good summer read.
Helpful Score: 1
Wonderful, wonderful work. Very intriguing and keeps you wanting to read more and more. Very lovely and descriptive, soulful. Definately read before watching the movie.
Helpful Score: 1
I quickly got absorbed in this story and was caught up in finding out how the families involved grew and changed over time. I found it to be a very compelling story, and also very interesting in terms of learning how medical care, education, etc. change through time.
This is one of my all time favorite books. One that you don't forget. This book will make you mad, sad,and happy at times. I usually read true crime books but for some reason I picked this book up and LOVED it.
Helpful Score: 1
An absolutely stunning, engrossing book that pulls you in and sets you on a path of an endless shift in emotions. I could not put it down! Wonderful!!
Helpful Score: 1
After 120 pages, I still wasn't hooked. But, I pushed through and finished the book. I'm glad I did. It was a good story.
Helpful Score: 1
In this book: choices, confusion, contempt and finally, clarity. Good book.
Helpful Score: 1
This was a great story. Did not transform into a movie very seamlessly, so don't let the movie dissuade you from reading the book. I loved all of the connections to the photgraphs and the old fashioned camera. It just made the entire store that much more romantic to me.
Helpful Score: 1
THE MEMORY KEEPERS DAUGHTER unfolds from an absolutely mesmerizing premise, drawing you deeply and irrevocably into the entangled lives of two families and the devastating secret that shapes them both. I loved this riveting story with its intricate characters and beautiful language.
Sue Monk Kidd
This book was riveting from the moment I picked it up to the moment I set it down. My daughter just read it and felt the same way.
It is hard to let it go but I want another reader to experience this beautifully written book also.
Sue Monk Kidd
This book was riveting from the moment I picked it up to the moment I set it down. My daughter just read it and felt the same way.
It is hard to let it go but I want another reader to experience this beautifully written book also.
Helpful Score: 1
This book was a mesmerizing tale of the damage a secret can cause in a relationship and in a family. It also examined changing attitudes towards Down Syndrome children. I found it to be a bit sad, but intriguing. It made me examine my own life, my views, and my relationships through new eyes. I would definitely recommend this book.
Great book. Much better than the movie and I thought the movie was good!
Helpful Score: 1
After reading so many disappointing reviews, I could not get excited about beginning this book. However, I soon found the sentiments and descriptions drew me into the story. Other than a few slow chapters about two-thirds of the way through, I could not put the book down.
Helpful Score: 1
This is quite the ambitious book, attempting to cover a wide range of deeply emotional themes- giving up a child for adoption, raising a child with Down's Syndrome, teenage angst, love affairs, cancer- in one encompassing story of a marriage is falling apart over a single life-defining moment of weakness. Was prepared to dislike certain characters based on the back cover synopsis but ended up feeling surprisingly sympathetic towards both husband and wife. Gets sort of messy tying up the loose knots at the end and runs out of steam, but I'm glad everything didn't just suddenly end up "happily ever after."
Helpful Score: 1
I couldn't start reading a chapter without finishing it. And even then, I couldn't keep my eyes open and I would keep reading.
Helpful Score: 1
Although this book was predictable and over-hyped, the writing was (for the most part) pretty good. The author has a tendency to use the same words to describe certain things (e.g. "the warmth and weight" of a baby) which causes the description to lose its meaning and impact. Good the first time though. Read it so you can talk trash about it with everyone else.
Helpful Score: 1
Dr. Henry and his wife are expecting...unbeknownst to them, it is fraternal twins, one healthy boy and a girl with down syndrome. Dr. Henry has to deliver them due to a snow storm, and when he sees that his daughter has D.S., he hands her over to his nurse and asks her to bring her to an institution so as to save his wife from the heart ache. He proceeds to tell his wife that they had twins, but the girl passed away. The book progresses thru their lives, when at the end, the truth is unveiled. I enjoyed this book, although the author tends to be too descriptive at times.
Helpful Score: 1
Very engaging book. Amazingly told by the author.
Family secrets always make an interesting read ..it was like peeping through their windows at times. Wondering what would happen next.
Loved it!!
Family secrets always make an interesting read ..it was like peeping through their windows at times. Wondering what would happen next.
Loved it!!
Helpful Score: 1
Very thought provolking. Great for a book club. I would have loved to discuss with others. Makes you stop and think.
Helpful Score: 1
Hated it. Complete drivel.
Helpful Score: 1
This was a quick read with great characters and a story which exemplifies how just one decision can change the course of so many lives. Great read full of emotion.
Helpful Score: 1
Well written although maybe somewhat unbelievable storyline. This was one of Oprah's picks a number of years ago. It was a good read but the story was sad and left me feeling a bit melancholy by then end.
Helpful Score: 1
This was a very good book about a doctor that delivers his twins and gives one away without his wife's knowing because it was not "normal". It is a tale of living with your choices.
Helpful Score: 1
I loved this book! Even though you will not like, nor understand some of the characters, the book is extremely well written and will keep your interest. It is one of those books that will stay with you long after you've finished.
Helpful Score: 1
This book broke my heart and made me smile at the same time. It was so moving. I think it's one of the best books I've read in a long time.
Helpful Score: 1
I absolutely loved this book. It surprising twists and turns make it impossible to put down. I highly recommend!
Helpful Score: 1
I have a brother with Down's Syndrome who was born in '71 when my parents were told to institutionalize him because he'd "never amount to anything" and he'd "be a vegetable all his life". Knowing this, I could understand the mentality of the characters in this book, but it was still a bit hard to swallow. The best thing about this book was that it reminded me that doing the right thing in life requires strength and a lot of courage.
Helpful Score: 1
A real page-turner, beautifully crafted, full of pain and regret, but also hope.
While I know that the subject matter isn't the happiest of subjects, the book was just too depressing and that made for a very slow read. Characters were so flat and showed no personality even from the beginning!.
Helpful Score: 1
I loved this book. I was not sure that I was going to like it, but it captures your heart and sticks with you even after you are done with it. I loved the characters and the story brought back a lot of emotions of when I lost my sister at a young age. It really is a great book. Read it!
Helpful Score: 1
This book is one of my favorite all time books. What a great story with such a twist!! This book is sad and joyful all at once!
Helpful Score: 1
I really did love this book. You had to read it to the end to find out how their lives all turned out.
Helpful Score: 1
It was very interesting until the end, which became tiresome.
Helpful Score: 1
One of the reviews on the back of the book said it was "mesmerizing", and I think that word describes it very well. I couldn't put it down, but I'm also not sure I was happy with how it ended. In any case, I am still glad that I chose to take the journey of what could happen in their particular situation.
Helpful Score: 1
One of the best books I have ever read - surprising from beginning to end...could not put it down!
Helpful Score: 1
This is a story about a man who makes a life-changing decision to give up his twin daughter with Down syndrome at birth. Handing the baby to a nurse to be taken away without his wife's knowledge, begins the raw, emotional and amazing journey affecting all the characters and the reader alike.
I really cared about each character and couldn't turn the pages fast enough to find out what happened next!
I really cared about each character and couldn't turn the pages fast enough to find out what happened next!
Helpful Score: 1
This book gives excellent insight on families of people with Downs Syndrome.
Helpful Score: 1
This book is beautifully written, but I can't say I enjoyed it. It's one of the most heartbreaking stories I've ever read, and one I keep thinking about days after I completed it. It is incomprehensible to me that someone could give a way their own child in order to "save pain". And the book shows how the pain of this action haunts Dr. Henry for the rest of his life, ruining his marriage, his relationship with his son, and his own life. Very sad, very deeply emotional.
Helpful Score: 1
The book was mesmerizing. It was sad how many lives were affected adversely by the actions of the husband/doctor in this book. I feel that the nurse was the real heroine who saved the baby girl from what would have been a most tragic life. I am so glad that "special needs" people are seen as having value in today's society. I have a special needs grandson who touches so many lives in a positive way with his innocence & trust.
Helpful Score: 1
I liked this book but didn't love it. It was depressing, but realistic, about the effect that one bad or questionable decision has ripple effects.
Helpful Score: 1
Amazing read!! I was shocked by the decisions in the book but it kept me page turning it even quicker! I couldn't put the book down!
Helpful Score: 1
This was a beautiful book. I love how this woman rights it is very flowing and easy to get sucked into. I was even reading it out loud one day and my husband got hooked until the end. Beautiful heartfelt story you almost ask yourself what you would have done in the same situation as this Doctor.
Helpful Score: 1
Interesting look into events that shape our lives and choices that change things irrevocably. Quick and easy read. I could not put this book down.
Helpful Score: 1
Oh, I don't know. I don't know. I'm so conflicted about this book...
On one hand, the writing it beautiful. The prose is to die for. It's lyrical, yet not hard to comprehend. It's gorgeous. It's what writing should be.
On the other hand, there's the story. It started out slow, it was really really good in the middle and then the ending... well, the closure wasn't there for me. It was too abrupt, it didn't feel well thought out. Something... I don't know what... something was missing.
Having said that, I'm glad I read this one. I had heard so many things about it and I'm glad I gave it a whirl.
On one hand, the writing it beautiful. The prose is to die for. It's lyrical, yet not hard to comprehend. It's gorgeous. It's what writing should be.
On the other hand, there's the story. It started out slow, it was really really good in the middle and then the ending... well, the closure wasn't there for me. It was too abrupt, it didn't feel well thought out. Something... I don't know what... something was missing.
Having said that, I'm glad I read this one. I had heard so many things about it and I'm glad I gave it a whirl.
Helpful Score: 1
Very good fiction book. I couldn't put it down. I even read it on my lunch breaks at work!
Helpful Score: 1
A mesmerizing novel about regret that will break your heart. Amazing Story!
Helpful Score: 1
A few chapters were a bit dry and boring, but overall I enjoyed this book immensely.
Helpful Score: 1
An amazing book of triumph for a woman who decides to give her life to an "unwanted" child. Touching, amazingly realistic and so tender at times it will bring you to tears, but good tears.
Truly one of more favorite reads & one I think most any fiction lover would enjoy.
Truly one of more favorite reads & one I think most any fiction lover would enjoy.
Helpful Score: 1
Interesting, really makes you think.
Helpful Score: 1
I decided to read this book because it had gotten a lot of hype, which it deserved. The story is a very powerful one, very intriguing, and definitely keeps your attention. You wonder how something like this could happen, but at the same time you see how it so easily could. Definitely recommended. A beautiful realistic portrait of family life and of down syndrome.
Helpful Score: 1
This was a good story that could have been great but wasn't. I really like the premise of the story and I think that the author could have done a lot more with it. As it was it just seemed to be the same thing over and over again. The secret the father carries with him causes a rift in the family and the story is years and years of how there marriage is not working. I kept listening, waiting for that climatic moment when the secret came out but the was no climax in this book.
Helpful Score: 1
I thought this was a very good book.Held my attention.People quite often do crazy things that are not right because of their past experiences and their love for someone.
Helpful Score: 1
Loved it! Sort of Anita Shreve type writing. She develops her characters well and you can come to understand all of them. Even if you don't agree with what they do, you still get in their head and know why they did it!
Helpful Score: 1
This book to me was slow at first, but then it picked up toward the middle. it has a surprising story line and good ending
A touching view of how a secret can like an insidious vine in relationships. Also a refreshing reminder of how our opinions of special needs children has evolved with time.
Helpful Score: 1
This book is very heartbreaking, mesmerizing and it really is a beautiful book. I think it can make you look at your life and the power of love. This book is rich with detail and I highly recommend it. I can't wait to see what Kim Edwards writes next.
Helpful Score: 1
I loved this book.A one commentator states, this book is a tale of regret and redemption. Anyone who has a soft spot for the mentally disabled will enjoy this book. It's heart breaking and heart healing. Such a compassionate novel.
Helpful Score: 1
Couldn't quite get into this one, very slow moving. Sounded like such a great plot but didn't have much pull.
Helpful Score: 1
This book has a great story to it. Right from the beginning you find yourself hooked and wanting to know more. The details of a man's struggle with truth vs. lies is heart wrenching as he of course ends of regretting decisions made that last a lifetime. I really enjoyed this book and definitely found it worthwhile.
Helpful Score: 1
This is an amazing story. It is a must read.
Helpful Score: 1
I really enjoyed this book. I found it very hard to put down once I began. It does seem to get a little slow in the third quarter of the book, but it is still an excellent story.
Helpful Score: 1
A great book club book; we all enjoyed it. Very poignant.
Helpful Score: 1
The story was engaging and interesting. I disliked the characters in the story - but disliked in a good way. You're supposed to feel an emotional response for characters, positive or negative, and the characters are unlovable. But that's what makes the story line intriguing!
Helpful Score: 1
"This stunning novel begins on a winter night in 1964, when a blizzard forces Dr. David henry to deliver his own twins. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy, but the doctor immediately recognizes that his daughter has Down syndrome. For motives he tells himself are good, he makes a split-second decision that will haunt all their lives forever. He asks his nurse, Caroline, to take the baby away to an institution. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child as her own.
The Memory Keeper's Daughter is a brilliantly crafted story of parallel lives, familial secrets, and the redemptive power of love.
The Memory Keeper's Daughter is a brilliantly crafted story of parallel lives, familial secrets, and the redemptive power of love.
Helpful Score: 1
Bittersweet tale about a man who gives away his daughter at birth because she has Down's Syndrome.
At first I felt I had to wade through some of Kim Edward's florid prose, but by the section of the book called "1977" the story seemed to take off and move along at a smoother pace. As with all over-hyped books there were high expectations that I knew couldn't be met, so I read without trying to set myself up for disappointment. I got more interested in the story as it progressed and was surprised how much I enjoyed it overall. Being from Kentucky, it was a treat reading about settings of which I was familiar. I do recommend it with the caveat that story doesn't seem to take off until the middle.
At first I felt I had to wade through some of Kim Edward's florid prose, but by the section of the book called "1977" the story seemed to take off and move along at a smoother pace. As with all over-hyped books there were high expectations that I knew couldn't be met, so I read without trying to set myself up for disappointment. I got more interested in the story as it progressed and was surprised how much I enjoyed it overall. Being from Kentucky, it was a treat reading about settings of which I was familiar. I do recommend it with the caveat that story doesn't seem to take off until the middle.
Helpful Score: 1
I thought this was a very good book, although maybe not quite living up to its hype.
Helpful Score: 1
This book definetely wasn't what I was expecting, but was very good. I could hardly put it down. It shows the consequences of our life choices. And how they might affect not only ourselves, but everyone around us. It makes you realize that it's so much better to just be truthfull in life.
Honestly, this book was mediocre. The Time Traveler's Wife was similar in style and vastly better.
Helpful Score: 1
Wonderful Book. Hard to stop reading...
Helpful Score: 1
A little slow at times, but overall a good read.
Helpful Score: 1
Good, not great. The story definitely tugs at the heartstrings, so if you enjoy those kinds of books read this one. The story was not amazing but it kept my attention and I continued reading it with the eagerness I show for most good books I read.
Helpful Score: 1
This was such a heart warming story. I seem the movie but the book is much better and more detailed. really a good book. The challenges of two families that intermingled was so simple but complicated and riviting.
Helpful Score: 1
Very realistic. It was tugging at my heart. As a mother and a wife myself, I kept asking myself what I would do in this situation. I like that the ending didn't offer the most cliché resolution, or even the best resolution. It was however, a very believable and realistic resolution. A great read!
Helpful Score: 1
I thought this book was well written and believable. Perhaps many who do not like it don't understand how things used to be with child birth in the Hospitals and with Down Syndrome children in the 1960's. Perhaps the mother grieved a bit too long, but only because she didn't get the comfort from her husband that she would have expected. They had been very close before it all and he in trying to protect her withdrew into his own little world to cover up his guilt. I didn't feel like there was no hope as the girl was indeed alive and well and very happy. The sad part was the husband and his end, the rest all came right. I liked the movie as well. It covered the book well, without getting lost in the details.
I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to those who like real life, not fantasy thrillers.
I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to those who like real life, not fantasy thrillers.
Helpful Score: 1
I thought the book was well written and beautiful. I enjoyed the book.
Great book. I found it intriguing and could not put it down.
This book is very sad and heartbreaking, about how one man's decision changes everything in his life forever.
Great book! Couldn't put it down!
Interesting book on a controversial issue.
This is the best book I've read this year. Excellent descriptions of events from different points of view. It really makes you think about the things that happen in your life and people's motives.
Edwards really gives the reader something to think about! A doctor's wife gives birth to twins, and while she is still under anesthesia, he decides to save her the pain of raising a mentally challenged child and gives her away! The story unfolds from there and keeps the reader riveted.
I just finished this book today and it was great! It was sad in parts but still so good! I am posting it today, I want someone else to be able to read it and I hope enjoy it as much as I did!
Somewhat depressing since the book is full of inter-character tensions throughout the entire storyline. Excellent writing and character development.
A decision impacts so many lives in this novel. Well drawn sympathetic characters, degrees of redemption and a good view of how life has changed since 1964
I really enjoyed this book, but it almost seems as though the author thought of the plot as she wrote.
Just as they say, 'Don't judge the book by their cover'. That's exactly the point here. It sounds good, but it just seemed to drag on. If you are a person who likes mild books, then you will like this one. But if you don't, I suggest that you don't. That's how it probably ended up on PBS, nobody wanted it. That's just MY honest opinion.
Bestselling story of how secrets come back to haunt us--a quick read with much insight into characters.
One of the most entrancing novels I have read in a while...some passages are so beautiful you will find yourself re-reading them again & again. The characters are incredibly alive, real & pulsating with inner fires. You feel as if you have entered their world as a spirit might. Beautiful, moving & true to life.
A physician delivers his twins during a snowstorm when they are unable to get to a hospital. He makes it to his clinic, where his son is born first, without any problems. However, he delivers a twin daughter who has Down's syndome, and tells his wife the baby was stillborn. He has his office nurse take the baby girl to an institution. Instead, she keeps the baby and moves away, without telling the doctor what she has done. The story follows the lives of both the nurse and the doctor, as well as the children as they grow up. I loved this book!
a story of secrets and regrets. a wonderful page-turner. highly recommend.
I was hooked from the start. Very moving story. Unexpected events throughout the book.
I really enjoyed reading this book! The characters are not strictly good or bad, but much more complex. The language was beautiful and I actually reread passages because they were so beautiful. Sometimes I skip over descriptive passages when I'm reading to get to the "action", but with this book, I devoured them!
Very intriguing, thought provoking. I couldn't put it down.
A story of betrayal, secrets, and guilt. Dr David Henry delivers his own twins on a snowy night. His son is perfect and healthy. His daughter has Down's Syndrome. He gives his daughter to his nurse Caroline to put in an institution, and she disappears to raise the child as her own. Great book!
Thought provoking- not your typical happy ending. Fictional exploration of the question- What happens to a couple that has twins and the husband (a doctor) delivers his children only to discover that one is normal and one will have developmental delays her entire life. Should he tell his wife about both children or let it go and tell her that the child with issues died? And is it possible to keep this secret from your spouse- and live with yourself?
Took a bit to get into but ended up being pretty good...makes you really think about the choices you make in life.
Not worth the hype. Had so much potential but really fell flat.
Beautifully written....very satisfying all the way to the end.
A great read. I couldn't put it down and finished it in a couple of days!
this book started out hopeful and intriguing but about a third or half way through it became monotonous and boring- i rarely do not finish a book but this one i decided to not finish
-characters are easy to dislike and i wasn't even interested in finding out what happens at the end, there was not insentive to keep me reading
i enjoyed reading about the down syndrom child and the nurse but there was very little written about them- three or four pages here and there- whereas most of the book was dedicated to the biological mother and i found her very boring and the father self centered (only because the wife was very hard to get along with)
i was not happy with this book
-characters are easy to dislike and i wasn't even interested in finding out what happens at the end, there was not insentive to keep me reading
i enjoyed reading about the down syndrom child and the nurse but there was very little written about them- three or four pages here and there- whereas most of the book was dedicated to the biological mother and i found her very boring and the father self centered (only because the wife was very hard to get along with)
i was not happy with this book
In the style of effective women writers like Sue Monk Kidd and Jodie Picoult, this story is beautiful and heartbreaking. How a man's decision can effect the many people who are part of his life. Love this author!
Very thought-provoking.
Great book, very easy to read finished quickly to see what would happen. I would recommend this book!
A father makes a choice at the moment of his daughter's birth that has far reaching repercussions on the lives of his family and himself.It is both heartbradking and uplifitng,
I'm not even sure why I chose this book other than the publicity it had at the time. I found the cover to be very depressing, and I stopped reading about halfway through. I don't like to not finish a book, but I found this one depressing. I didn't like the story line nor did I like the characters and their actions. Not what it's hyped up to be.
I loved this book. Couldn't put it down.
I was startled by how little I liked his book. It was predictable and one dimensional.
This was an easy quick read, but I didn't love it as much as the previous reviewers. I found myself annoyed by the main characters - they had ample opportunity to FIX the wrongs that were committed, and I felt they spent their entires lives whining about it. The mother, in particular, I found annoying.
A tale of regret and redemption...of characters haunted by their past.
A doctor delivers his own set of twins, a healthy boy and a girl with Downs. This book spans the lives of the doctor, his family, the baby girl he gave a way and the nurse who raised her. This is an easy read.
A delightful, thought-provoking, stay-with-you-forever book. Dr. David Henry makes a life-changing decision that will stun you - and it changes everything. Very moving book. Highly recommended.
An interesting story of the effects of a split-second decision, made with the best of intentions.
Rather emotional read.
Haunting novel about a family's horrible secrets that causes a lifetime of pain. Great characters, well written.
Very much enjoyed this story. Heartbreaking, real, excellent character development.
I don't know why so many folks hated this book so much. I thought that it was enjoyable, especially for a debut novel. The characters were believable and engaging. Some of the writing is overly descriptive as though trying to be elegant, but this is a first novel so perhaps that is forgivable.
In 1964 during a Blizzard, a doctor delivers his own wife's twins. The boy is perfect, however he immediately notices the girl has Down's syndrome. He tells his nurse to bring the baby to an institution, instead she runs away with the child and raises it as her own.
This book was very well written and shows how lives can be forever intertwined with a spur of the moment decision.
This book was very well written and shows how lives can be forever intertwined with a spur of the moment decision.
Excellent book. I thought it was very interesting and keep you wanting to know what would happen next.
I did not care for this book, but it did have a shocking twist at the end.
A deeply moving book about the misinformed on Down's Syndrome and how a family deals with living together and sharing deep unshared secrets. This is a very good book worth reading more than once!
A Doctor is forced to deliver his own twins in a blizzard. One of them is born with Down's Syndrome, and he makes a choice that forever alters his relationships, and the lives of many people.
I thought this book was excellent, but it's the kind of book I only want to read once or twice. I bought it because I remembered it was my book club reading the day before the meeting (I'm usually much more dilligent) and the library was closed.
I thought this book was excellent, but it's the kind of book I only want to read once or twice. I bought it because I remembered it was my book club reading the day before the meeting (I'm usually much more dilligent) and the library was closed.
Poignant story of two families and how all their lives are forever altered in a single moment.
The book actually took me months to finish. It was interesting to me at the begining but then half way through, the story became to long and I lost interest. The overall story was somewhat sad. The only time the couple were happy was at the beginning when they met.The ending could have been better. I'm glad that the kids were able to met at one point in their life.
I enjoyed this book, it was written well enough that it keeps you interested and you want to find out what happens.
A very compelling story beautifully written -- highly recommended.
This book was one my wife could not put down. She said it was well written and was a compelling and believable story.
OK, but not as great as the hype.
great book
Unnecessary details that do not advance the story and thoughts in the mind of a man that obviously come from a woman author put me off this book in a BIG hurry. I was looking for a realistic fiction story and this one was neither realistic nor a story. If Ms. Edwards wanted to write a bunch of "pretty words" she should have chosen another genre: poetry perhaps?
I am so glad I didn't pay full price for this and HOW did this make the best-seller list?
I am so glad I didn't pay full price for this and HOW did this make the best-seller list?
This book was picked for our book club and I was very much looking forward to it. The plot was not at all what I expected. Based on the title, I was expecting a story about the little girl. In actuality, it was about her father. I found that I had no interest in the chapters that followed his story and was simply anxious to get back to the parts about the daughter. The ending was also a let down.
made me run out to rent the movie!
Great story, easy to read.
Absolutely heart-wrenching, but such a worthy, wonderful read.
really great read
Realistic story with lots of vivid word pictures, easy read, very captivating, you'll find you're eager to read more. References to photography, capturing life, secrets, Down syndrome, anger, destructive behavior, affairs, drug use, sex, and drinking.
This was such an incredible tale. Full of love and bad choices and acceptance of the unknown. Thoroughly enjoyed. The movie was very good but as always the book was better!
the book had a story line that was drab everyonce in awhile. In parts in was depressing and sad.
Its one of those books where you just want to shake the characters and make them do the right thing.
I agree with the woman who is over 50. My daughter (21) and I both read and enjoyed this book. I did explain to her, though, how things were done in the 60's and how I had a friend whose brother was institutionalized at birth "for the good of the entire family". My daughter had a friend with a Down's sibling, so it touched a chord. Also, I knew that my mom had delivered her babies in the 50's and 60's, with no memory of any of the deliveries. How quickly we forget history and a wonderful way to open discussion.
pleasant read
beautiful. made me cry. sucked me right in. well written and very visual.
A heartbreaking story about love and deceit and what it can do to a family. It is the story of a mentally challenged child and how she changed a nurse's life.
I really enjoyed this Read.. Oh what a tangled web we weave,etc...
I am in agreement with the others who wrote that the mother of the story just was insufferable. Total waist of my time.
This is one of the most depressing books I have read. I did not think it lived up to all the hype.
Well written, but very sad. Don't know if I enjoy this type of novel. But that's a matter of personal taste and not indicative of the writer.
A bland book that started out with a promising plot that just plummeted the further into the book one got. I found the characters unlikeable, their motives for their behaviors never really well explained and their reactions out of the ordinary and difficult to sympathize with.
Sad that this is what passes for a best seller.
Sad that this is what passes for a best seller.
PRETTY GOOD BOOK. NOT AT ALL WHAT I WAS EXPECTING, BUT THAT'S THE BEST PART ABOUT IT. IT'S AN ENJOYABLE READ FOR SURE!
I thought id enjoy this book since i have twins one being special needs, it started out well but went downhill within the first few chapters. I forced my self to finish it hoping it would get better
I loved it and then I hated it and then I liked it and then I finally resolved to loving it. Sad, sad, happy, sad.
An amazing story of the journey of the lives touched by love, loss, and betrayl! When is the movie????
I remember reading this book about 2-3 years ago. I really enjoyed it. For me, the book spoke of the unlimited things people will do to remain "normal" in society. It explained how one person's actions affected a group of people for a lifetime. Being in the mental health field, and interested in all things mental health this book kept me intrigued. At times the book read a little slow, but I am a patient reader, and it was a good enough book for me to have remembered it 2-3 years later.
Different kind of story...a little too sad for me. Easy read.
A Doctor sends his Down's Syndrome daughter off with his nurse, who raises her. His decision alters the lives of his unknowing wife and the twin son who was normal when born.
I don't know how to give a rating, but it would be 5 stars. This book had so much human compassion. All the characters pulled at my heart. I loved the book so much it's one of the few paperbacks I won't list to share!!
Couldn't put this one down!
Award-winning writer Kim Edwardss The Memory Keepers Daughter is a beautiful drama with characters that will haunt your memory long after you have finished reading the book.
A total estrogen fest.
This is possibly one of *the* worst books I have ever read. Great premise - terrible storyline and execution. Not only is the writing marginal, but the author re-uses the same hokey imagery over and over "quicksilver child", "thin hair, held back with barettes". There is little redeeming about the characters, and the subplots are simply unbelievable. Don't waste a credit or your time on this one. If I were the publisher, I'd be embarrassed.
not one of my favorites, well written just a hard story to get into...made me realize that life could be worse
Such an amzing story! This was the first, and so far only, Kim Edwards book I've read & I loved it!
Awful, simply awful. I could barely read it. I forced myself to get through most of it. I never even finished it though. Don't waste your time.
This book was amazing! I loved every minute of it and could not put it down.
I didn't enjoy this book. I thought there wasn't anything redeemable about any of the adult characters. There just wasn't anything likeable about them or the situation they put themselves in and it didn't leave you feeling like you understood them any better at the end or that anything was resolved.
I really enjoyed this book!
It has a dark premise; however it is worthwhile and not a big downer! Seriously!
It is one of the books I have kept and I pass to friends - they always have enjoyed it (I only do that with a handful of books). Really great around fall/winter when you can cozy up in front of a fire.
I would not have picked it up based on what the back said but really really liked it and very much recommend it. Hate to give too much of the story away so will leave it at that - hope you enjoy!
It has a dark premise; however it is worthwhile and not a big downer! Seriously!
It is one of the books I have kept and I pass to friends - they always have enjoyed it (I only do that with a handful of books). Really great around fall/winter when you can cozy up in front of a fire.
I would not have picked it up based on what the back said but really really liked it and very much recommend it. Hate to give too much of the story away so will leave it at that - hope you enjoy!
Not a bad read. I enjoyed it, but certainly not an all-time favorite.
The book is superb in my estimation as it takes the reader into suspense almost from day one in the lives of those involved. It follows the two main characters for over twenty years separately unfolding how the one initial decision in the beginning changed everyone's lives. It is a book of decisions, good and bad, and how each one affected lives like ripples in a stream.
I took this book with me on vacation and really enjoyed it. Like others I was really waiting for the end to see how it all turned out.
I enjoyed the book...and believe me, babies with disabilities were hidden in long-term care years ago.
I thought that the book started out slow, but once I got passed the first few chapters I couldn't put this book down. I really love it. It is one of the best books I've read in quite a while.
im my opinion, this book was an okay book. the storyline was good but in some parts i do admit i think it got kind of boring
I had a hard time getting into this book. I just never really had that feeling of never wanting to put it down. Not horrible, but not great for me either.
The story catches you from the beginning, continuing to read ever waiting and wanting to find out when mom is reunited with her daughter. While the story of life as it moves on is ok, it leaves the reader still waiting and wanting. After the long awaited reunion occurs, it leaves the reader disappointed. If as much thought, time and words had been put into the reunion and the reasons behind the boxes of pictures, other than a quick explanation, the book may have had a more satisfactory ending.
A sad but sadly a very true book. i feel bad for the poor girl
This book is really popular. But I thought it was kind of boring. I like what the lady did for the child but other than that, it was lame.
Excellent book! Could not put it down! Read it in 3 days. A really good and captivating story.
Very moving, and hard to put down!
At times I found myself really frustrated with the father in this book wondering why he would not come clean already. Over all, I enjoyed this book very much.
I had to question the wisdom of the husband. He meant well and the child was indeed fortunate. Great ending to a somewhat depressing story of guilt and love. Recommend this one for bookclub discussions.
This is a MUST READ book, I could not put it down. It was compassionate, heartbreaking and truly unforgettable.
This is a beautiful story.Its a pretty long read but you become so personally engrossed into the charectars, you feel like you know them so well.
It starts out at a sprint and slows to a nice jog. All in all, a good read, though I was a little disappointed in a way that I cant really describe.
Was a decent book. A bit slow moving and not as heartfelt that was believed to be.
Our local book club picked this for its monthly read and I had heard good things from others before I had even started the book. Maybe my expectations were too high.
After reading the back I was excited to get started. I enjoyed the set up and all of the explicit detail of sight, sound, and smell that set the scene for what was essentially a very emotional and psychological plot.
However, after reading about 1/2 the "explicit detail" had turned from something enjoyable and vicarious living to a completely overwrought, overwritten work. It was a struggle to keep going. I ended up skimming the last 1/3 of the book and felt I missed nothing except more time wasted reading about every lilac scent or car sound that existed as the characters were going about their lives. It's a great strategy if you use it sparingly, but when overused, it seems like nothing more than ego and feels like no more than sheer agony.
I would NOT read this book again. It was a great idea but too many unnecessary details that bogged it down. For 450+ pages, it could easily have been half that and still accomplished its purpose - probably in a better fashion. I'd give the author another chance, and hope that she had a better editor next time.
After reading the back I was excited to get started. I enjoyed the set up and all of the explicit detail of sight, sound, and smell that set the scene for what was essentially a very emotional and psychological plot.
However, after reading about 1/2 the "explicit detail" had turned from something enjoyable and vicarious living to a completely overwrought, overwritten work. It was a struggle to keep going. I ended up skimming the last 1/3 of the book and felt I missed nothing except more time wasted reading about every lilac scent or car sound that existed as the characters were going about their lives. It's a great strategy if you use it sparingly, but when overused, it seems like nothing more than ego and feels like no more than sheer agony.
I would NOT read this book again. It was a great idea but too many unnecessary details that bogged it down. For 450+ pages, it could easily have been half that and still accomplished its purpose - probably in a better fashion. I'd give the author another chance, and hope that she had a better editor next time.
I really enjoyed this book. There were some heartbreaking parts, but they were balanced with warm moments. I appreciated the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the struggles of a child growing up with Downs Syndrome.
This was a very touching story. It will make you emphatize with some of the characters and hate some of them. This book was very well-written and the story was captivating.
Easy reading book, but found it pretty good. I haven't seen the movie.
I really liked this book. Being a mother of a child with Down's I could understand and connect with the characters really well.
I couldn't put this book down. What a wonderful story.
After seeing the Lifetime movie, I had to read the book. It was a very compelling book; I kept squeaking out time to read it a few pages at a time and did read it in about a week and a half just a little at a time. It is about a man who gives his daughter away at birth because she had Down Syndrome. The story then focuses on the lives of Phoebe (the daughter given away), Paul (her 'normal' twin), Dr. Henry (the father), Norah (the mother), and Caroline Gil (the nurse who took Phoebe in when her father wanted her brought to an institution). I really enjoyed this book and found that the character of Norah reminds me of Nora from "A Doll's House."
I enjoyed this book. I thought it was very interesting how we read about how one person's choice can influence their life and the lives of people around them. We all have our secrets and after reading this book, it makes me want to tell mine just so I won't have to live with that burden anymore. Of course, my secrets aren't as bad as the one that David carried, but I still wouldn't want to lie to someone for the rest of my life. I also liked how the book ended with me, the reader, determining how the future would play out in these characters lives.
A very thought provoking book, well written!
What a wonderful book! I love the way the writer uses word to evoke images. I have to read the book slowly, because sometimes it seems like poety to me. The story touches my heart. The basic plot is about twins born to a doctor and his wife. One of the twins has Downs Syndrome, and the doctor decides to send the baby to an institution. The nurse present at the birth decides to raise the baby herself. The rest of the story is about the parallel lives of the twins and their parents.
i read the book to finish it
in the middle it got boring and the summary on the back paints the book as something it is not
in the middle it got boring and the summary on the back paints the book as something it is not
Excellent reading!
I really wanted to like this book. But the whole premise turned me off from the start. I just couldn't identify with the characters, and ended up skimming through parts of the book to get to the end.
I enjoyed this book alot. I hear they are making a movie based from the book, I dont see it being as well as the book. You experience the great journey of Dr David Henry and his secret. Great Book, fast read
While this book has a hard beginning for parents, it is a great read. It was refreshing to see how love has nothing to do with geneology.
This was an amazing book. It was emotional and postive. Great to see lifes negative turn out so positive.
Excellent read! Shows that the changes in educating these children can be rewarding!
The book was intresting, but seemed a little far fetched.
Great book for a monthly book club. Quick read and very thought provoking.
Awesome book!!! Enjoyed it and couldn't wait to read each chapter!
It took me a long time to get around to finished the read of this book for some reason, probably because the content was so painful to think about, but I did complete it and liked it. Gave a lot to think about, in terms of people's actions and what the results are many years later.
This novel has hit me oddly. The scene descriptions and settings I thought were quite artistic and lovely to read. The plotting felt shallow, with a few scenes coming in out of nowhere and with little impact. Characters were both engaging and then unchanging, with very little growth happening.
Does that sound inconsistent? The novel really wasn't; rather there were some aspects that worked well, and some that didn't, and the range between what worked and what didn't was large.
A solid, middle-of-the-road novel. 3 of 5 stars.
Does that sound inconsistent? The novel really wasn't; rather there were some aspects that worked well, and some that didn't, and the range between what worked and what didn't was large.
A solid, middle-of-the-road novel. 3 of 5 stars.
Excellent. Made me cry!
A beautiful story of courage, loss, grieving,and finally joy. I couldn't wait to read it through but hated for it to be over!
HORRIBLE AND UNBELIEVABLY BORING
This book was BORING. I only finished because I had to know how it ended.
Very good book about a man whose a doctor. He delivers his wife's baby due to a snowstorm. Finds there are twins, one boy and one girl. The girl is born with Down Syndrome. His wife is out with anesthesia and he tells her when she is awake that the baby had been born dead.
It is not the type of book I normally read, but the main characters struggle with the decisions they made was intriguing to me and left me wanting to know more. The ending, however, did not satisfy me, and I felt I was left hanging.
Novel had a really great premise and storyline, but then the author seemed to have trouble figuring out where to go with it. Hated the ending (actually, the whole last 1/4 of the book, to be honest.)
Family saga, keeps you on edge. Seen movie, book is always better.
This book is one that everyone should read. Also, do not watch the movie first. It will make you laugh, cry, and overall feel a broad range of emotions. Read it to see what I mean.
I'm not quite sure how to review this book. The subject is quite interesting and while reading I did feel sometimes sad or shocked. At the same time I feel like there was too much detail in scenery and things like that which dulled the story a bit and made me ready for it to end. Overall it was worth a read but not a favorite or a re-read for me.
It dragged a little bit. I never felt like I really "got into" it...
Interesting story
I couldn't put this book down. As a mother, it was a heartbreaking story, but beautiful at the same time. I'm sure you will love it.
I would have to say this book was so-so. I completely agree with the other reviews that the characters in this book were self-centered and shallow. I also finished this book to see what would happen at the end - not because I couldn't put it down. I would not necessarily seek out another book by this author.
I didn't care a whole lot for the book. I wanted to stop seeral times because I was bored and didn't like a lot of things being talked about such as lying and committing adultry and it being OK. But so many people have told me how great this book is so I wanted to finish it hoping that it would improve at the end. Let's just say I wasn't impressed with the book on the whole. However, I did think that the idea was interesting and I give the author props for being able to write about the emotions being shown in the book very well.
This book was a very good read. It had some insight on the choices people had to make due to lack of acceptable options in the 1960s. You need a box of tissue close by when reading this book. The ending is as happy as can realistically be expected.
I found this book to be a bit redundant. I was skimming through papagraphs because the author repeats many memories and senarios over and over. All in all it has a great story line, but it could have moved a lot faster for me.
Another easy read! Great characters that you can empathize with.
One of the best books I have ever read!
A very good read with suspense and intrigue.
It started out really good.
But, It didn't conclude the way it should have...
I got angry by the ending...
But, It didn't conclude the way it should have...
I got angry by the ending...
Great book I enjoyed it. I also just recently saw the TV version and it does this book no justice. The book is so much better, they left so much out of the TV show and changed it a lot. I glad I read the book first.
Enjoyed this book immensely. Couldn't wait to find out how it ended. Of course, there was sadness and disappointment throughout the book, even futility. But the underlying beauty of the lesson to be kearned in simplicity made all of that worth the journey. As I struggle with what is impt and what is not, this book served as a guiding light. Sometimes life is only hard because we, in our humanity, make it that way. Read and enjoy!
I think I was hoping for a bit of a happy ending... I was dissapointed with the story and the deception through the years. I thought it was a wasted life memoir. Tragic from the start and it only got worse. Was sorry I read it.
great story! both sad and uplifting!
A wonderful story about life, family, and how one single event can forever alter the lives of everyone involved. Truly a challenging, thought-provoking, heart-wrenching, and yet overall uplifting story.
I have longed to read this book and am glad that I did. Never wanted to put it down and was always wishing I had more time to read.
Excellent book! Easy to read, characters are believable + instantly heartwarming! Now I have proof that you really truely never know someone...indeed very sad!
Very interesting book!
The ending saves this book that is getting rave reviews and i'm not sure why.
It was an interesting story but for some reason it seemed to take me forever to read it, so I think that the writing was a little different for me than I'm use to. I would recommend it - it was an emotional story.
Somewhat dark, but beautifully written.
Wow....a haunting story. He gives away his down's syndrome daughter to save his wife and son the heartache...only to be haunted by her existence...and what he has missed. He tried to save them from the pain...but only made matters worse. This book will give you a lot to discuss!
Interesting story line but very slow and somewhat lacking. I just expected so much more, it could have been great.
What a wonderful, emotional, compassionate book! The detailed thoughts of the characters are so brilliant. A must read -- but bring the tissues!
I was skeptical at first that this would be a book I'd enjoy. Was I ever wrong, I loved it! Kim Edwards has a great style of writing. Lots of detail and imagery without being overwhelming. I would definately recommend this book!:)
I was really dissapointed with this book. The premise sounded so good, but the book fell flat. I kept reading because I thought it had to get better, but it didn't. I found the main characters irritating, they all seemed so self involved and self pitying.
Excellent read
The beginning and middle of this book were great. I just thought the author could have come to the conclusion much more quickly.
Touching story with a surprising redemptive ending.
A very compelling novel which is both heart-breaking and heart healing. A doctor/father delivers his son and his daughter one snowy night. His son is fine, but is daughter is not perfect and the doctor/father has to make a decision as to what to do with his new born daughter.
Great read... Goes very fast... Can't wait to read more from this author... Enjoyed very much...
This book was well written and held my interest BUT left me in a state of "funk" almost the whole way through. Many of my favorite books have scenes that make me cry, but the book itself makes me feel good. This just was not one of those books and since I read for enjoyment I will not read this again since I got little enjoyment out of it.
Excellent! Could not put down!
Really good book with a great story.
I loved this book! Our book club read it and the ratings ranged from 6-9, with lots of 7's and 8's (really high for our group). The book raises several issues, not the least of which is whether it is ever justifiable to shield those closest to you from the truth.
This is a remarkable book about how family secrets and lies can change the dynamics of a family. It is beautifully written.
A very interesting story with complex characters. The author draws some intriguing comparisons between photography and the nature of time.
A tale of regret and redemption...characters haunted by their past. A beautifully written page-turner. Loved it!
After all the hype, I found this terribly disappointing. Predictable from the first, no real suspense to make this worth reading.
I was very excited to read this book, I went out and bought it because I was tired of waiting for it on PBS! It was difficult to get into but then picked up after the first 100 pages-or-so. The narrative style was interesting and it read a lot like "the Time Travelers Wife," but it was linear. When I put it down I thought it was fantastic but some of the less positive reviews here do have good points, things that I didn't pay much attention to because I was swept up in the creativity of the story but when I took the time to reflect it wasn't as amazing as it first seemed. A great read for a cold winter afternoon in front of the fire because it is not very deep.
Wonderful book, Kept my interest and was actually hard to put down.
A real page turner
Highly recommended
I had really high hopes for this book, but I didn't love it. It's very long winded, but the story is nice. I read it on a trip, but it was the only book I'd brought. If I'd have read it at home, I'm not sure I would have finished it.
This is a wonderful book which illustrates how a mistake can affect many lives.
Although somewhat ragged in parts, this novel also contains moments of breathtaking lyricism. A poignant tale of secrets, distance, love, loss and redemption.
A must read!!
This book was very difficult to put down. It was amazingly written; I felt as though I was looking in on each and every scene.
I didn't enjoy this book at all. For me, the main characters had very few redeeming qualities at all. And, the story seemed very contrived and overly melodramatic. What was supposed to make me feel sympathetic was really just annoying.
Excellent book.
This book was/has been on various Best Sellers Lists over the past year or two.
The plot concerns a father's decision to give up his twin daughter at her birth, when he realizes she suffers from a birth defect. At the same time, he and is wife raise her twin brother, who is healthy.
The book explores the ramifications of his decision upon all involved -- himself, his wife, his son, the woman who cares for the daughter, etc. The writer wrote with clarity and compassion, while observing the inevitable conflicts in the family.
The plot concerns a father's decision to give up his twin daughter at her birth, when he realizes she suffers from a birth defect. At the same time, he and is wife raise her twin brother, who is healthy.
The book explores the ramifications of his decision upon all involved -- himself, his wife, his son, the woman who cares for the daughter, etc. The writer wrote with clarity and compassion, while observing the inevitable conflicts in the family.
This is an interesting book - hard to get into, then you can't put it down.
a flashback in time through families and special needs.
This books has many twist and turns. Some you could never think of having happened. It was wonderful, suspenseful, yet sad. I did keep this copy because I loved it so much for the depth it goes into. Grand Reading.
A very good read...Twins separated at birth, with some surprising twists.
Excellent, absorbing. Really enjoyed this tale of how good intentions can destroy a family. This is a good story about the complications of love, between parents and children, siblings, and men and women.
I absolutely LOVED this book and highly recommend it to anyone!
Loved it. Can't wait to see the movie.
A book that immediately grabs your attention and draws you in; that makes you want to keep reading to find out what happens to the characters. You put yourself in the situation, deciding what you would do if you were them. I read this book in just a few days because I wanted to know what happened, it shows how one act can impact our entire life.
One of my favorite books I've ever read. I couldn't put it down once I started. Five stars for this one.
I had a difficult time with this one, for it didn't grab me and force me to want more. The characters are depressing.
I found the lengthy descriptions daunting and did very little to get me closer to the characters. Edwards writes each character's approach to every task and interaction with such flowery wording at an attempt of introspection and depth and falls so short at painting a picture of meaningful characters caught up in something bigger than themselves in my opinion. She writes of anger between the characters that has grown as a result of one lie after another, but the characters are so predictable, so lacking in the depth she tries to convey with her wordiness that you see them more as clueless rather than complex. I found myself thinking that if the characters were so introspective, than why can't they open up more or figure out why the others are distant. In the end I found their introspection a forced tactic to write something deep.
I guess I felt the book lacked substance, but was heavy on circumstance and predictable characters. For being titled "The Memory Keeper's Daughter" the author sure did focus much more on the 'memory keeper' and his family and far less on his daughter and I think that would have made for a much stronger storyline because Caroline's anger, doubt, frustration and turmoil is much more believeable than that of the other character's.
I guess I felt the book lacked substance, but was heavy on circumstance and predictable characters. For being titled "The Memory Keeper's Daughter" the author sure did focus much more on the 'memory keeper' and his family and far less on his daughter and I think that would have made for a much stronger storyline because Caroline's anger, doubt, frustration and turmoil is much more believeable than that of the other character's.
A bit slow going, but worth the read in the end.
Regret and redemption told in a personal, touching story describing the effects of actions on different family members over years. Worth the read. The book creates a reflective mood. Has great value in educating the reader on certain moral, ethical issues.
Well read by several of my book club members. We all enjoyed it!
Easy and engrossing read. Though it could be a bit shorter (better editing), it's still worth reading!
A doctor gives away one of his newborn twins, born with Down's syndrome, telling his wife that the child died. The book shows how that decision affects his family and the woman who raises the child.
This is possibly one of *the* worst books I have ever read. Great premise - terrible storyline and execution. Not only is the writing marginal, but the author re-uses the same hokey imagery over and over "quicksilver child", "thin hair, held back with barettes". There is little redeeming about the characters, and the subplots are simply unbelievable. Don't waste a credit or your time on this one. If I were the publisher, I'd be embarrassed.
Dr. Henry and his wife are expecting their first child. Little do they know that they are going to have twins. The doctor ends up delivering his own children, one baby boy and one baby girl with downs syndrome. He gives up the girl to be raised in a special hospital where they can take care of her better, but tells his wife her daughter died. The nurse he puts in charge of the baby ends up falling in love with the little bundle and keeps her. Throughout the years, each family deals with the decisions they made.
This was only OK for me. I feel like I have seen this on the Lifetime Movie Network, and it was hard to find characters to relate with. Everyone seemed to be holding grudges against each other.
This was only OK for me. I feel like I have seen this on the Lifetime Movie Network, and it was hard to find characters to relate with. Everyone seemed to be holding grudges against each other.
This was perhaps one of the best books that I have ever read and I read a lot!
I decided to buy this book after hearing all the hype that surrounded it. I was not disappointed. I read this book in less one day, it was impossible to put down.
Very interesting and there's a twist around every corner.
Excellent read!
Enjoyed author's writing style. Story not totally plausible to me.
The premise is intriguing but I found it overly sentimental & heavy-handed. Dialog often struck me as artificial.
Really enjoyed this book!
This book was a slow in the beginning and hard to get into. It seemed to drag on. The ending was pretty good. But don't think it really warrants being a best seller.
Because of a winter storm, Dr. David Henry must deliver his own twins. He realizes that one of the twins has Down's Syndrome, so he gives the baby to his nurse and asks her to place the baby and tell his wife that the baby died at birth. The story follows both children and the hole in their lives because of the secret. The marriage between the doctor and his wife unravels because of this secret. An excellent read.. and a thought provoking book about our treatment of children who are less than perfect.
An excellent, well written book. Very powerful and thought provoking. A fast read.
A very good book that was also thought provoking. I really enjoyed this book.
Outstanding book!
...begins on a winter night in 1964 when a blizzard forces Dr. David Henry to deliver his own twins. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy, but the doctor immediately recognizes hs daughter has Down Syndrome. For motives he tells himself are good, he makes a split-second decison that will haunt all their lives for ever. He asks his nurse, Caroline, to take the baby away to an institution. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child as her own. A deeply mving story and beautifully written..
I'm not into novel reading.But this really got to me because of having a cousin who came into our lives in almost the same situation.
The decisions that were made,the institutions and the years are similar.It brought memories on how much a family secret can hurt, heal and learn to love..
The decisions that were made,the institutions and the years are similar.It brought memories on how much a family secret can hurt, heal and learn to love..
Wonderfull Book. A must read.It will keep you up reading late into the night.
Very good read - I didn't want to put it down! Complex characters, great metaphors and very strong writing.
Great book. Can be a tear jerker at time. Raises awareness of Down's syndrome.
Great read
This was the biggest waste of my time. I'm not sure why this book was even written.
I enjoyed this book, but I expected more due to all the hype!
Fantastic! A young doctor has to deliver his wife's baby because of the snowstorm. The first one is a perfect son, the second, which was not expected, is a girl with Down's Syndrome. The wife is not told...but the secrets almost spoil the marriage.
I loved this book! It starts on a snowy night when a doctor has to deliver what he thinks is his only baby. It turns out that his wife is having twins. The first born, a boy, is born perfectly healthy. The second baby, a girl, is born with Down's. He tells his nurse to take the baby away to an institution and then tells his wife the baby died. This is a very sad story about family secrets and what damage those secrets can cause.
Great book!!!
I enjoyed this book, but it is depressing, at times. So much dysfunction and so many bad choices. I enjoyed the descriptive nature of Edwards's writing--easy to "get the picture" of her writing.
Wonderful book!
Such a wonderful book! I loved how the characters were so real and vital.
Brilliant. Sad. Thought Provoking.
A very interesting book. This one is one the Best Seller List.
Beautifully written and moving. The best book I've read this year.
A NY Times bestseller for months. A "tale of regret and redemption...of characters haunted by their past." Beautifully written. A beautiful book.
Great Book. I really enjoyed it. Quick Read
A poignant story. You are quickly drawn in, but then it moves kind of slowly. Everything turns out ok in the end, but it is still a sad situation. I liked the book, but I don't think it warrants all of the hype.
very good-unique plot and captivating!
The book moved slowly at times, but the subject matter was very thought provoking... an implusive decision made by one man effects many lives.
What a ride. This book was dark from the very beginning. Well written and a testament to how secrets can ruin a family.
Really great read about how one decision can change your life.
This is possibly one of *the* worst books I have ever read. Great premise - terrible storyline and execution. Not only is the writing marginal, but the author re-uses the same hokey imagery over and over "quicksilver child", "thin hair, held back with barettes". There is little redeeming about the characters, and the subplots are simply unbelievable. Don't waste a credit or your time on this one. If I were the publisher, I'd be embarrassed.
Beautiful prose, amazing characters - could not put it down.
Slow at the start but engaging after you have been reading a while.
This book reminded me of the way Anita Shreve writes. It started off great, it ended great, but the middle was a little cumbersome.
Kim Edwards first book was written with much pathos and understanding of complex relationships. Well, how many people wonder if they were adopted or had a sibling who was adopted or take a few minutes to reflect on why they were a single child. Sure, an old story. But not often do we read about a mother who does not know her child was taken away and that leaves us all stunned. Who could do that. Why? This was a good story.
Beautiful book.
I'm not much for contemporary fiction, but I thought it was well written. The characters were well developed. But I kept talking to the main character, David, to tell every one his secrets.
The ending was way too soon, but some of that was the expectation of more story on the last pages of the book. Instead the last 13 pages is a section called A Penquin Readers Guide to The Memory Keeper's Daughter.
The ending was way too soon, but some of that was the expectation of more story on the last pages of the book. Instead the last 13 pages is a section called A Penquin Readers Guide to The Memory Keeper's Daughter.
How can one bad decision effect the lives of one family over decades? This novel beautifully tells the story of a family. When a woman gives birth to twins, her husband recognizes right away that his new daughter has down syndrom. In a panic, he tells his nurse to take the child away and informs his wife that her daughter died in childbirth. The nurse decides to raise the child on her own, and his wife begins to decdend into depression.
The Memory Keeper's Daughter deserves all of the praise it recieves. The characters are flawed but interesting. The prose style is absolutely enchanting. I highly reccomend this novel.
The Memory Keeper's Daughter deserves all of the praise it recieves. The characters are flawed but interesting. The prose style is absolutely enchanting. I highly reccomend this novel.
One twin is born disables so Dr. dad takes matters into his own hands
Just so-so to me. Kind of forgettable.
It is a sad story of how a family disintegrates with lies and betrayal and the power of redemption.
What a thought provoking, soul searching, deeply emotional work. 4 lives that would have been profoundly different if not for one lie. A sample of what we allow our brains to do to our lives.
Will probably read this again and again as I am sure there are depths I have not reached yet with the lessons to be learned here.
Would recommend to one and all. Especially those I know are dealing with a secret too big to share. 5 Stars!!!!
Will probably read this again and again as I am sure there are depths I have not reached yet with the lessons to be learned here.
Would recommend to one and all. Especially those I know are dealing with a secret too big to share. 5 Stars!!!!
An amazing book. Unlike many of this sort, this isn't a feel good book. Like real life, it is full of bad choices, regrets, tears, fears along with love, life, and laughter. This also means there are unexpected twists and turns which always makes for engaging reading. I had a very hard time putting this one down!
Excellent story about how secrets can effect our lives, good and bad.
Was very disappointed. The book was a best seller, but I personally thought it stunk.
One of the best books of 2006. Can't recommend highly enough!
This was my book club selection for January. It is a very moving story. It made me realize how a split decision can change your life and others around in a split minute.
What a great story. I stayed up late to finish it. Very moving.
very very good story
Excellent novel. I have never read a book by this author, but I definitely will be checking out to see if she has written more books. Highly recommend.
A touching, thought-provoking read.
This is a wonderful story, I couldn't put the book down. The story of twins that are separated at their birth and the intervening years of their lives are compelling story telling.
As someone who has worked with Down's children, I really appreciated the authenticity of this book. It was a very emotional read, and hard to put down.
After resisting this in the bookstores for a number of months, I finally picked it up, and can wholeheartedly recommend it. 'Separated at birth' by their overly protective physician-father, a 'normal, healthy' boy grows up with his parents, whose marriage suffers because of the lie between them, while his Down syndrome twin sister- whom the father tells everyone was stillborn - is rescued from institutional care by a lonely nurse, and grows up healthy and happy, knowing nothing of her 'real' birth family. There is suffering, as well as joy, all around as the reader follows both families through the twins' childhoods and into young adulthood. The weight and toll of a lie at the center of a relationship is fully explored with sensitivity. And at the end there is hope for a sort of redemption.
Lots to think about in this story.
Lots to think about in this story.
A sad, heartbreaking story...
Interesting book. Stands on its head what you think about perfection and happiness.
Great Book!! I really enjoyed this book. Twins born and one with Down's syndrome. The father hasthe child with Down's sent to an institution, forever changing the lives of everyone involved. It is the story of a secret that affects this family forever.
Loved this story!
This is an excellent book about a difficult topic, and the outcome of our decisions.
Very good read.
Great story. I was a little skeptical at first since I usually read "chick lit" but I truly enjoyed this book.
A tear-jerker and page turner in one!
Good read. Well developed characterizations. Story line flows well.
A wonderful novel. It makes you question the father's motives throughout but you gain insight into the type of person he truly was.
This was required reading, and much to my surprise, I found it to be substantial and a very good read.....I'm a better person for experiencing this author's work!
Good story and plot, but I think there could have been more. I wanted to know Phoebe more.
This is such a great book. Everyone should read it at some point.
a quick read...
This was a wonderful but sad book. I really enjoyed it....it kept me glued to the pages.
A haunting story of how one bad choice can ruin a marriage, a family, and all connected lives. If nothing else, this story will leave you with a renewed realization to be honest and have courage in facing the unexpected. And, to have faith in those you love to be able to do the same.
good book!
This book begins in 1964 when a blizzard forces Dr. David Henry to deliver his own twins. His son is born perfectly healthy, but his daughter has Down's syndrome. He asks his nurse to take his daughter away to an institution. Instead she disappears into another city to raise the child as her own. This was a great book that I couldn't put down.
This one goes onto my "best books ever" list. Exquisitely written, well paced, and heartbreakingly honest.
I really enjoyed this book. After the main event the story splits to tell of the 2 separate lives that are involved.
A good read.
A good read.
this book is simply moving. it kept me in tears, dropping little bombshells when you least expect it to. hate to see it go.
Beautiful language. Asks us if it's ever wise to keep a secret from people you love and shows us that the answer to that question isn't as easy as it seems. Looks at parenting issues, including the ties of birth parents vs. adoptive parents and what it means to care for a seriously disabled child. Very worthwhile reading.
Good book!
One of the best books I have read in a long time. The intricate story of a family and how one secret can haunt them for decades, is so memorable that I could hardly take time out to do anything but read.
I couldn't put this one down, so good and yet heartbreaking.
The story of a family,and the walls they build to protect themselves from pain.It was a good read,not great,but I did enjoy it.
A multilayered look at the impact of a sudden choice and decision on many lives. The study of how a secret has power more profound than any of the "facts" of our lives. This is a book that resonates on many levels and surprises us with its twists and turns. Not a book to be forgotten quickly.
This was a very good book. Kim Edwards has written a very thought provoking account of one man's split second decision to give up his daughter and how that decision's effect on the lives of others.
This is a fantastic book, that will hook you from beginning to end
A great story, a little heart breaking and I simply loved it!
Excellent! Really well written story of secrets and regret.
Story grabbed me right away, but then I lost interest about half way through.
Very engaging story; great character development. I enjoyed her writing style enough to seek out more of her work.
Beautiful prose. I loved this book.
Excellent read. I could not put the book down.
Thought provoking and sad story. Great and fast read.
I loved this book, couldn't put it down until I'd finished it. I didn't want it to be over, I wanted to know what happened next!
Story of a couple who has twins but one is mentally retarded and the Dad, a doctor, tells his wife, that twin died. The Dad tells the nurse to take her away to a home but instead the nurse keeps the child as her own. The story takes place in the 1960s where mentally retarded children were usually institutionalized. This story develops through the years as the twins grow under different circumstances and ends with the hidden secret being discovered by all. This is a very interesting and intriguing book.
I loved this book...it pulled at my heart strings and made me really interested in the characters and how they made the decisions they did. Excellent read.
Great read - I read in one sitting.
Great Read!
I loved this story. Start reading it on a Friday evening so you can spend the whole weekend reading it.
This book led to wonderful book club discussions about the corrosive power of secrecy.
If you like Jodi Picoult you will love this hauntingly beautiful story of regret, healing and redemption. When a doctor makes a split-second decision to give away one of his newborn twin babies, it sets a chain of events in motion that he could never foresee.
I loved this book. One decision made during a crisis can affect your life and everyone you love. This book proves it.
A haunting book. In some ways, rather unsatisfying, as you keep waiting and waiting for something to happen. But finally, it's a lot like our lives really are, time passing without our realizing all the details, all the things that have gotten to where we find ourselves one day. A lot of themes in this book, that provide food for thought. Still, I have to say that I found Norah a rather repellent character, much more so than David. And I never did understand Paul and his refusal to believe in his father's love.
Written in 2005--This story takes you through the lives of twins who were separated at birth and the repercussions that follow becuase of one man's and one woman's actions. I couldn't put this book down. It was a wonderful read.
Good, a slow read though.. It didn;t really deserve the hype.
The story was very interesting. However, I found the middle section a little slow. The beginning and the last 100 pages or so were very good. Overall, a good read.
A wonderful story of the choices people make and how it shapes their lives. Once I started to read it, I could not put it down.
The story is very good, it gets a bit tedious in the end, seems to drag on... It could've stopped 2-3 chapters before the end.
Liked this book well enough. it was definalty better then the movie they made
A very well written book. I thoroughly enjoyed this story right up until the end.
I had high expectations for this book and unfortunately did not enjoy this book as much as I hoped. The book, while a fantastic story concept, did not grab and hold my attention the way others have mentioned. However, the suspense of whether the two seperate worlds/families would meet kept me reading over time and the ending was good.
Characters haunted by their past-about reqret and redemption. Lovely.
Very touching and heartwarming story. Amazing how the author shows how one decision can change many lives forever. Excellent book!!
excellent - The ending caught me off guard. It was also a good pick for our book group.
Great Story!!!! I was sad, angry, and happy for the characters throughout the book. It is a great story and very heartfelt.
A tragic tale of a family and the power of a secret. I wanted the story to end up a certain way but Kim Edwards tells a tale that is more true to life. A story that will stay with you.
This is a great book...
An incredible book. Extremely well written.
What a story! Well written and captivating. One of those books that you'll just never forget.
Great book full of surprises. Its about how family isnt always blood.
So, so good! I couldn't put it down!!
Slow book, but it is good, just not my usual type of reading
Excellent book!! Beautifully written! This book is a must-read!
#1 NY Times Best Seller. How a secret destroys a marriage, a family.
An amazing book! This book will make you angry and cry all at the same time. Kim Edwards is an amazing author!
Although fiction, this book touches on topics and tough choices that have had to been made in the past, yet are still relevant today...not the choices, but the fact that these types of choices have to be made. It's always interesting to have a bird's eye view of the consequences of these decisions and what impact they have on those who are touched by it. As you read this book it's interesting to ask yourself would you make the same choice?
A heartbreaking, heart-healing novel
A nice easy to read book.
How important is truth to our relationships? I think that is what this book attempts to touch on.
This book begins set in 1964 where the medical procedures were different, not to mention how we treated people with disabilities. David and Norah's life would have been much different had a different choice been made.
How important is truth to our relationships? I think that is what this book attempts to touch on.
This book begins set in 1964 where the medical procedures were different, not to mention how we treated people with disabilities. David and Norah's life would have been much different had a different choice been made.
Wonderful story, wonderful detailed characters. Very moving! I did wish to know a little more in the end.
Edwards's assured but schematic debut novel (after her collection, The Secrets of a Fire King) hinges on the birth of fraternal twins, a healthy boy and a girl with Down syndrome, resulting in the father's disavowal of his newborn daughter. A snowstorm immobilizes Lexington, Ky., in 1964, and when young Norah Henry goes into labor, her husband, orthopedic surgeon Dr. David Henry, must deliver their babies himself, aided only by a nurse. Seeing his daughter's handicap, he instructs the nurse, Caroline Gill, to take her to a home and later tells Norah, who was drugged during labor, that their son Paul's twin died at birth. Instead of institutionalizing Phoebe, Caroline absconds with her to Pittsburgh. David's deception becomes the defining moment of the main characters' lives, and Phoebe's absence corrodes her birth family's core over the course of the next 25 years. David's undetected lie warps his marriage; he grapples with guilt; Norah mourns her lost child; and Paul not only deals with his parents' icy relationship but with his own yearnings for his sister as well. Though the impact of Phoebe's loss makes sense, Edwards's redundant handling of the trope robs it of credibility. This neatly structured story is a little too moist with compassion
so unfortunately i succumbed to all of the hullabaloo about this book. ugh! i watched the movie when it was on tv and i didnt like it, but id hoped the book was better. i was wrong.
the story is this- a doctor's wife gives birth to a boy and a girl. the girl is born with downs. the doctor has a bad history with downs in his family so he tells his wife their daughter died at birth and passes their daughter on to his nurse who chooses to raise her.
the book takes course over 25 or so years and pretty much no one gets over the past. the dad is weak and cant get over the lie hes lived with. the mother (who didnt even know she was pregnant with twins) cant get over the death of her daughter, and their son is pretty much ignored.
the characters are so incredibly weak its annoying. you just want to say grow a pair and move on. deal with your grief in a healthy way. its such a depressing book and i forced myself to get through it.
one of the main characters randomly dies and its like- huh? its just casually mentioned in a sentence and it really didnt flow.
sorry i wasted my time on the movie and the book. oh well.
the story is this- a doctor's wife gives birth to a boy and a girl. the girl is born with downs. the doctor has a bad history with downs in his family so he tells his wife their daughter died at birth and passes their daughter on to his nurse who chooses to raise her.
the book takes course over 25 or so years and pretty much no one gets over the past. the dad is weak and cant get over the lie hes lived with. the mother (who didnt even know she was pregnant with twins) cant get over the death of her daughter, and their son is pretty much ignored.
the characters are so incredibly weak its annoying. you just want to say grow a pair and move on. deal with your grief in a healthy way. its such a depressing book and i forced myself to get through it.
one of the main characters randomly dies and its like- huh? its just casually mentioned in a sentence and it really didnt flow.
sorry i wasted my time on the movie and the book. oh well.
I really enjoyed this book. Not like the "easy reads" I'm use to, I am so glad I desided to read this one!!
Sheree
Sheree
In my opinion, highly overrated. A slow-paced, wooden examination of a family with a secret. No particular evidence of character development over time - everyone stays exactly who they are through the course of the book and there is very little evidence about learning from one's mistakes. I found it whiney and preachy - not attributes that I care for very much.
Very good read from first page to the end. A Dr. delivers his own twins giving one away.
very engrossing, facinating story. (sometimes a little slow but worth sticking with.)
Interesting study of secrets and how they damage a relationship.
I couldn't put this book down. The characters are fleshed out and it's hard to imagine how things will turn out. Not a book to read if you're having troubles in your own life.
THIS IS A GREAT BOOK! I WAITED ALONG TIME TO READ IT AND I AM GLAD THAT I DID!
Good, but I had a hard time feeling connected to the characters.
this should fly off my shelf! Jeanne
I loved this book. Having a child with a disablility, I can only imagine what the father was thinking at the time of his daughters birth. Back then, kids didnt have a chance. This is a great tale of how the 2 siblings live seperate lives not knowing the other exists.
Nice story line. Well written. Seemed to drag a little.
I didn't really think I'd like this book, but I ended up being drawn in. It's a sad story, lives shattered, but an interesting story told well.
Beautifully written story of what a secret can do to a family.
Bittersweet! Captivated me so I did not want to put it down!
The first half was okay...after that it was just a big yawn. I couldn't even force myself to read anymore. Since it was on the bestsellers list, I thought I would give it a try but I definitely found it lacking in more ways than one.
while the story kept me wanting to find out what happened between all the characters, i wasn't thrilled by the pace of the book. i feel as though there was not enough excitement.
Amazing book. I could not put this one down. Can't wait for Kim Edwards to write another.
This was a quick read that hooked me right away. I was disappointed with the end.
Very good book, sad and thought provoking.
loved this book, excellent story
Fabulous book! Beautifully written, this story manages to break the heart and warm the heart at the same time. Unique story that keeps one thinking long after reading the last word.
I almost didn't list this one on the trade site, as I loved it so much that I wanted to keep it on my bookcase. However, as I have learned from this swap site, books sitting in bookcases don't do anyone much good. This story is incredible, haunting, beautiful, majestic, and courageous.
This is one of the best books I have ever read. Wonderful story! I could not put it down!
This was a quick read and very enjoyable. The characters, though a bit predictable, were very endearing and interesting. A good study on private lives and how a committed family can still be distant and secretive.
A good book for a discussion group, it is quite thought-provoking.
A woman delivers twins but one has Down's syndrome. Her husband who also delivered the twins spirits away the afflicted daughter. The rest of the tale is hypnotic.
It grabbed me in the beginning and then it got a little slow. It was an ok read.
A few sappy moments, but overall, a beautiful book.
I enjoyed this book.. it is not a light hearted book.. but the story is captivating and interesting..
It was hard for me to connect the beginning and ending, but that's what happens when a story takes place over 20 years or so. Otherwise, this is definitely a bestseller for a reason.
a tale of regret and redemption of characters haunted by their past. A brilliantly crafted story of parallel lives, familial secrets and the redemptive power of love. I enjoyed this book
A story of a husband making a decision to give one of his twins away and how it impacts everyones life. A great and moving story.
I loved this book!
Very, very sad!
I really liked this book. it had alot of twist and turns and kept you interested to the very end.
A story of secrets and their destructive power.
Being a nurse, I just liked the story and the psycological aspects of each character. It moved very fast for me and I could hardly put it down.
Awesome story, it grabed me and I finished it in one sitting. I would reccomend to anyone!
This is a story of regret and redemption where the characters are haunted by their past. A Dr. delivers his own twins and then sends one away. Very moving!
Excellent book, beautifully written, and will stay with me for a long time as one of the best books I've ever read. The author's writing and imagery kept me turning pages all weekend until I finished it!
Slow read but good story
couldnt put it down
my book as been read by my book club and a few other friends so it is worn but in good condition....
I can now understand all the excitement about this book. It was a wonderful read! Highly recommend!
Excellent book! Worth the hype!
Ok, I think I'm the only one on the planet who hasn't read this book! It's a Sal. Army find to share with others on PBS. There are so many reviews posted about this book I won't add another one! :o)
Very disturbing
Awesome!!Totally mesmerizing
Good night reading about a doctor who delivers his own twins and recognizes that one has down syndrome.
I loved it.
AMAZING!
I loved this book - read it in two days - couldn't put it down.
Great read, baised on a true story which blew my mind away!! Tons of details in book. Lifetime movie was really good as well.
This book was just okay for me. It started out really good but then just became a lot of lies and heartache. Too much for my taste. Sorry.
One of the best books I have read. The movie is pretty close to the book, but it is wonderful to read the story for yourself. Very heart warming.
Was hard for me to take in the story line but I bet back in the day people did horrid cruel things like their to the mentally challenged children. Just sad.
On a winter night in 1964. Dr. David Henry is forced by a blizzard to deliver his own twins. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy. Yet when is his daughter is born he sees immediately that she has Down's syndrome. Rationalizing it as a need to protect Norah, his wife, he makes a split-second decision that will alter their lived forever. He asks his nurse to take the baby away to an institution and never reveal the secret. But Caroline, the nurse, cannot leave the infant. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child herself. So begins this beautifully told story that unfolds over a qurter of a century-in which these two families, ignorant of each other, are yet bound by the fateful decision made that long ago winter night. Norah Henry, who knows only that her daughter died at birth, remians inconsolable, her grief weighs heavily on the marraige. And Paul, their son, raises himself as best he can, in a house grown cold with mourning. Meanwhile Phoebe, the lost daughter grows from a sunny child to a vibrant young woman whose mother loves her as fiercly as if she were her own
A very good story. I am an avid reader of different genre and this book was well written and interesting.
I overall enjoyed this book. The relationships between the characters was complex and made for a great discussion at our bookclub meeting.
This is possibly one of *the* worst books I have ever read. Great premise - terrible storyline and execution. Not only is the writing marginal, but the author re-uses the same hokey imagery over and over "quicksilver child", "thin hair, held back with barettes". There is little redeeming about the characters, and the subplots are simply unbelievable. Don't waste a credit or your time on this one. If I were the publisher, I'd be embarrassed.
This is possibly one of *the* worst books I have ever read. Great premise - terrible storyline and execution. Not only is the writing marginal, but the author re-uses the same hokey imagery over and over "quicksilver child", "thin hair, held back with barettes". There is little redeeming about the characters, and the subplots are simply unbelievable. Don't waste a credit or your time on this one. If I were the publisher, I'd be embarrassed.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
"On a winter night in 1964, Dr. David Henry is forced by a blizzard to deliver his own twins. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy. Yet when his daughter is born, he sees immediately that she has Down's 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 to take the baby away to an institution and never to reveal the secret.
But Caroline, the nurse, cannot leave the infant. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child herself. So begins this 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 long-ago winter night. Norah Henry, who knows only that her daughter died at birth, remains inconsolable; her grief weighs heavily on their marriage. And Paul, their son, raises himself as best he can, in a house grown cold with mourning. Meanwhile, Phoebe, the lost daughter, grows from a sunny child to a vibrant young woman whose mother loves her as fiercely as if she were her own."
The Memory Keeper's Daughter articulates a silent fear close to the heart of every mother: What would happen if you lost your child, and she grew up without you?
"On a winter night in 1964, Dr. David Henry is forced by a blizzard to deliver his own twins. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy. Yet when his daughter is born, he sees immediately that she has Down's 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 to take the baby away to an institution and never to reveal the secret.
But Caroline, the nurse, cannot leave the infant. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child herself. So begins this 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 long-ago winter night. Norah Henry, who knows only that her daughter died at birth, remains inconsolable; her grief weighs heavily on their marriage. And Paul, their son, raises himself as best he can, in a house grown cold with mourning. Meanwhile, Phoebe, the lost daughter, grows from a sunny child to a vibrant young woman whose mother loves her as fiercely as if she were her own."
The Memory Keeper's Daughter articulates a silent fear close to the heart of every mother: What would happen if you lost your child, and she grew up without you?
This is possibly one of *the* worst books I have ever read. Great premise - terrible storyline and execution. Not only is the writing marginal, but the author re-uses the same hokey imagery over and over "quicksilver child", "thin hair, held back with barettes". There is little redeeming about the characters, and the subplots are simply unbelievable. Don't waste a credit or your time on this one. If I were the publisher, I'd be embarrassed.
This is possibly one of *the* worst books I have ever read. Great premise - terrible storyline and execution. Not only is the writing marginal, but the author re-uses the same hokey imagery over and over "quicksilver child", "thin hair, held back with barettes". There is little redeeming about the characters, and the subplots are simply unbelievable. Don't waste a credit or your time on this one. If I were the publisher, I'd be embarrassed.
This is possibly one of *the* worst books I have ever read. Great premise - terrible storyline and execution. Not only is the writing marginal, but the author re-uses the same hokey imagery over and over "quicksilver child", "thin hair, held back with barettes". There is little redeeming about the characters, and the subplots are simply unbelievable. Don't waste a credit or your time on this one. If I were the publisher, I'd be embarrassed.
this book made me laugh and cry and get angry and mad it was an awesome book and i could not put it down i finished reading it in 1 day!
The book's central premise of secretly hiding a life intrigued me. Upon reading this book, I'd like to know more about how the medical profession of the era could simply dismiss a mentally handicapped infant as not being "worthy."
A blizzard in 1964 forces Dr. David Henry to deliver his own twins. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy. His daughter, the second born, suffers from Down's Syndrome. He makes a split second decision to have the baby taken away to an instituion. He then tells his wife that the daughter is dead. Great book telling of family secrets, parallel lives and the power of love.
I thought this was going to be a charming heartwarming story of acceptance and forgiveness, but what I found was a wordy, very slow going story with a really flat ending. I don't like to give up on a book, but I had to force myself to choke this down. If you really want the story, watch the movie. I couldn't bare to after reading the book. Could have been a wonderful idea if the descriptions were more consise. Who wants to read five or six pages describing a broken vaccumme?
Great book, read it in one day - barely since it is now 2am and I am sooo tired....
This book moved slowly. It was interesting as far as the way the world was in the sixties.
Very good read. Probably one of the best books I've read this year.
I really enjoyed this book..
This was a very satisfying reading experience for me.
What a book!
Overall a great book. I could have used a more satisfied ending though - it felt like it wrapped up too quickly.
Good book.....kinda depressing though.
Interesting, with emotional family issues at the forefront of the story.
Enjoyed the book very much.
Beautifully written moving story.
This was a sad tale about the things that come between us as family members. Their lives were just so sad. Even so, I enjoyed the writing.
Great book, couldn't put it down.
This was a very disappointing novel in every way. What could have been an exquisite tale full of the drama and tragedy of real life made more so by elegant storytelling was disappointingly relayed with drab imagery and simple narrative style. My high expectations left me sorely disappointed.
A book that will pull at you heart strings for sure.
this book was an amazing read!!! i was happy,and sad and cried at parts, very heart warming book!!! i would highly recommend this book!!!! it has stayed with me for weeks after i read it!!!
This is possibly one of *the* worst books I have ever read. Great premise - terrible storyline and execution. Not only is the writing marginal, but the author re-uses the same hokey imagery over and over "quicksilver child", "thin hair, held back with barettes". There is little redeeming about the characters, and the subplots are simply unbelievable. Don't waste a credit or your time on this one. If I were the publisher, I'd be embarrassed.
Worth reading
Excellent. Definitely worth reading.
What a difference one decision will make on your entire life!!!
Deeply moving and heartbreaking story.
Not the read I expected. Average story line and character development at best.
This book definitely kept my attention that whole way through. What a tragedy to make the decision that the father made and to live the the resulting secret.
Book is all as advertised. Haunting.
an interesting,enjoyable read
GREAT READ,I REALLY ENJOYED THIS BOOK,COULDN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT EACH PAGE TOLD ABOUT THE CHARACTERS.
EXCELLENT BOOK!!! The lifetime movie was very true to the book, but you cannot capture the true emotional devotion behind the main male character unless you read the book. If you liked the movie, READ THE BOOK!! I loved this book. It was a little hard to get through... kind of tedious at times, and for me, it wasn't an easy read. However, it was very much worth it. As a Kentuckian, I had to support Kim Edwards, and the fact that it is set in KY... but as a reader, I have to applaud this book!
Fabulous!
Awesome book! Loved it Could not put it down. Burned many meals! LOL!
wonderful, wonderful book.
Did not enjoy this book. I was disappointed after all the rave reviews it got, but I found it incredibly depressing, several of the characters annoying, and a boring read. I skipped over alot of it to get to the end because I don't like to quit on a novel once I've started. I guess it just isn't my type of story!
Slow paced and very descriptive.
I was totally engrossed with this book but I was rather disappointed with the ending. It was not a terrible ending, I just expected much more. Other than that it was absolutely wonderful
Lovely story. It was one of the sweetest books I have read in a long time. I highly recommend.
"a brilliantly crafted story of parallel lives, familial secrets, and the redemptive power of love."
Interesting book, "This stunning novel begins on a winter night in 1964, when a blizzard forces Dr. David Henry to deliver his own twins." The split second decision he makes to tell his wife that one twin was born dead rather than raise a child with Down Syndrome will haunt him forever. His nurse Caroline takes the baby and raises her as her own rather than put her in an institution. All lives are now touched by that one decision.
fantastic - page turner
Excellent. What a compelling story!
Worth reading once at least.
A very well written story. Wonderful Read, Highly recommend.
Very good book.
I thought that this was a good book about how one person's life and decision can affect so many other lives.
What happens when one twin is given away at birth.....
This book really delves into the consequences of thoughtless action triggered by emotional response.
"This stunning novel begins on a winter night in 1964, when a blizzard forces Dr. David Henry to deliver his own twins. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy but the doctor immediately recongizes that his daughter has Down's syndrome. For motives he tells himself are good, he makes a split-second decision that will haunt all their lives forever. He asks his nurse, Caroloine to take the baby away to an institution. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child as her own. Compulsively readable and deeply moving, the Memory Keepers Daughter is a brilliatntly crafted story of parallel lives, familial secrests, and the redemptive power of love."
Worht the Paperbackswap wait! I loved it!!
Great story, truly enjoyed. Heartbreaking. Lots of connections, depth, twists and turns.
I'll be honest, I only read about half the book. I did actually like the quality of the writing, but I did not like the story. It really was just too heart-wrenching for me to keep reading. It did not inspire any hope that the story could end well for any of the characters, and I just had to put it down.
This book was ok. I read the book to see what all the hype was about and was a little disappointed.
Great read for my book club.
Overall a good story but too slow for my tastes.
Tale "of characters haunted by their past." I could not put the book down.
When Dr. David Henry's wife goes into labor during a paralyzing winter storm he is forced to deliver his child. His wife, Norah, is under heavy sedation and he is assisted by Caroline, his nurse. Henry's joy is boundless when he delivers a healthy son and also discovers that he is to be the father of twins. With the birth of his second child, a daughter, he makes an immediate and fateful decision. The child is born with Down's Syndrome so believing that he will spare his wife pain he tells Caroline to immediately take the child to an institution and never reveal what she has done. He tells Nora that their son's fraternal twin died at birth.
Caroline is far too kind hearted to obey Henry's orders, so she flees to another city where she raises the daughter, Phoebe.
We can never know whether some decisions we make are for good or ill or what effect they will have upon the future lives of those we love. Author Edwards traces the story of this particular family over 25 years as Norah mourns the loss of her baby girl, and a long kept secret is revealed.
Caroline is far too kind hearted to obey Henry's orders, so she flees to another city where she raises the daughter, Phoebe.
We can never know whether some decisions we make are for good or ill or what effect they will have upon the future lives of those we love. Author Edwards traces the story of this particular family over 25 years as Norah mourns the loss of her baby girl, and a long kept secret is revealed.
i could not read it, it sucks
Very emotional and stirring
I think Edwards could have written the same story with about 100 fewer pages. The descriptions of feelings and places were poetic, but began to get tedious. Nevertheless, the story was good and I found the characters to be beleivable.
Kim Edwardss stunning family drama evokes the spirit of Sue Miller and Alice Sebold, articulating every mothers 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 Keepers 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
Chicago Tribune
Quick easy read - kept my interest. A bit predictable but enjoyable
Touching story of deceit and forgiveness.
This novel didn't end up at all how I thought it would! And that's a good thing. If I can figure out what happens next, I don't think the writer has spent enough time being creative. But this story was beautifully told and unfolded in a realistic way. Enjoyed it very much.
An interesting read which provoked many different reactions in me. I can see where book clubs could have much to mull and discuss. Overall the book was a disappointment to me, as I was hoping for a primary focus on Down syndrome and the daughter, Phoebe. I would have enjoyed more chapters with Caroline and Phoebe, and indeed found their chapters to be the most engaging. I especially liked the chapters that detailed Caroline's advocacy efforts to have her daughter included. The chapters with Phoebe's birth family seemed to drag for me; as other reviewers have noted, Norah, David and Paul all seem quite depressed to me and not terribly likeable. I could empathize with Norah's pain, but not relate well to her coping strategies. Also, as the mom of a son with Down syndrome, I was hugely disappointed that Edwards did not give Phoebe her own voice in the story. I really wanted to read chapters directly from Phoebe's perspective. I think Phoebe's voice could have added a lightness or humor to an otherwise pretty intense and somber-toned book. However, all that said, I did find the book's general premise intriguing. The story is truly a family drama with dysfunction, miscommunication, missed opportunities and repressed emotions. I felt Edwards handled the info and perspective of Down syndrome in a respectful and interesting way. And I think Edwards did a fine job of keeping the tension going, on just how the secret would finally be revealed. Alas, I found myself disappointed in the ending as well. My mother thought David's handling of the secret and the ending to be realistic and she was satisfied. After all the melodrama of the previous chapters, I was anticipating a dramatic reveal and dramatic fallout. Nope. The ending wrapped some loose ends, but not in the way I had hoped it would.
This is, by far, the best book I've read in a very long time. It is poetic, but intriguing at the same time. I loved it.
Wonderful!
I loved this book, and didn't want to stop reading.
This book should not be judged by it's cover! It is an excellent book, one I could not put down. Well written story.
Fantastic book, The lifetime movie was not nearly as great!
A young doctor makes a decision born of panic and trauma, and the repercussions echo through a quarter century, changing his life and his family's life forever.
excellent read. Really enjoyed it.
A story of a Dr. who delivers his own twins, one, the boy, is OK, the little girl has Downs Syndrome. He tells his nurse to take the little baby girl to a "home," and tells his wife that she died at birth. The nurse cannot bring herself to leave the baby once she is at the "home" and decides to take her for herself and raise her.
The nurse leaves the Dr. practice and moves, raises the little girl and marries.
As the book progresses, secrets are discovered, lies revealed and the Dr. learns that his nurse has raised his daughter.
The nurse leaves the Dr. practice and moves, raises the little girl and marries.
As the book progresses, secrets are discovered, lies revealed and the Dr. learns that his nurse has raised his daughter.
Great Book! Would reccomend to read!
A very good read.
Good but sad.
Wonderful story, well written and original.
Great book!
Very interesting...it's about a huge secret
This stunning novel begins on a winter night in 1964, when a blizzard forces Dr. David Henry to deliver his own tiwns. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy, but the doctor immediately recognizes that his daughter has Down syndrome. For motive he tells himself are good, he makes a split-second decision that will haunt all their lives forever. He asks his nurse; Caroline; to take the baby away to an institution. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child as her own.
Interesting premise but can't say that I loved the book.
fabulous book
Cover .. On a winter night in 1964, Dr. David Henry is forced by a blizzard to deliver his ow twins. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy. Yet, when his daughter is born, he sees immediately that she has Down's syndrome. Rationalizing it as a need to protect Norah, his wife, he makes a split second decision that will alter their lives forever.
This stunning novel begins on a winter night in 1964, when a blizzard forces Dr. David Henry to deliver his own twins. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy, but the doctor immediately recognizes that his daughter has Down's syndrome. For motives he tells himself are good, he makes a split-second decision that will haunt all their lives forever. He asks his nurse, Caroline, to take the baby away to an institution. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child as her own. Compulsively readable and deeply moving, The Memory Keeper's Daughter is a brilliantly crafted story of parallel lives, familial secrets, and the redemptive power of love.
i loved this one
Sad story
A little slow to start, but then I was enthralled, a great read!
What an amazing book.
Very enjoyable read.
Great GReat GREAT book
Loved it!
I absolutely loved this book. The movie was not near as good.
Book is to contrived.--Rene
Good book!!
There were times it was hard to book the book down.
Excellent story! Well worth the time. A book I could not put down!
I read this a while back. Very good read
This book was excellent. I highly recommend it!
Good book.
This was a good suspense story.
I beleive it was made into a movie, but I could be wrong.
Worth reading.
I beleive it was made into a movie, but I could be wrong.
Worth reading.
I own 3 copies of this book. Every time I read it, it touches my heart.
At first I had a hard time getting into this book, but when I got to the middle, I couldn't put it down. At the beginning of the book it seemed as if David and Norah had a "perfect" life. All that changed in one moment with one decision. It made me realize how one decision changed the lives of five people forever. What would things have been like if Phoebe would have lived with David and Norah??? This book is a classic example of how guilt and holding things in can eat you alive from the inside out. David could never be close to Norah because the decision he made permanently built a wall between them. When David told his wife that her daughter had died, I really felt for her. Then as her character changed throughout the book, I found myself being mad at her for not fully giving herself to the family she had. Then I realized, this is what unresolved grief can do to a person. I felt like the book abruptly ended. Once David died and they found out about Phoebe, the story rushed to the end of the book. All in all, I enjoyed this book.
This book was an easy read. Keeps your interest.
I began reading this book and just really couldn't finish it. It was very morbid in my opinion saw the movie on lifetime and then didn't want to read the book after i knew what happened...bittersweet ending
It was good, but not meaty enough.
From the back cover..."A tale of regret and redemption...of characters haunted by their past....simply a beautiful book." Yes, I agree...this is a really good book which I enjoyed very much.
enjoyed it
This book was ok, not one of my favorites, but good enough to pass the time.
Great read
Great read!
I found this book to be almost identical to the movie that was on tv and I thought the movie boring . But the book did go into more detail.
I have no idea why this one was so popular. Not my most favorite book.
Great book!
To be honest, I haven't read the book yet, but I DID see the movie (with the same title)....and that was excellent!
Great book!
From Publishers Weekly
Edwards's assured but schematic debut novel (after her collection, The Secrets of a Fire King) hinges on the birth of fraternal twins, a healthy boy and a girl with Down syndrome, resulting in the father's disavowal of his newborn daughter. A snowstorm immobilizes Lexington, Ky., in 1964, and when young Norah Henry goes into labor, her husband, orthopedic surgeon Dr. David Henry, must deliver their babies himself, aided only by a nurse. Seeing his daughter's handicap, he instructs the nurse, Caroline Gill, to take her to a home and later tells Norah, who was drugged during labor, that their son Paul's twin died at birth. Instead of institutionalizing Phoebe, Caroline absconds with her to Pittsburgh. David's deception becomes the defining moment of the main characters' lives, and Phoebe's absence corrodes her birth family's core over the course of the next 25 years. David's undetected lie warps his marriage; he grapples with guilt; Norah mourns her lost child; and Paul not only deals with his parents' icy relationship but with his own yearnings for his sister as well. Though the impact of Phoebe's loss makes sense, Edwards's redundant handling of the trope robs it of credibility. This neatly structured story is a little too moist with compassion.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Edwards's assured but schematic debut novel (after her collection, The Secrets of a Fire King) hinges on the birth of fraternal twins, a healthy boy and a girl with Down syndrome, resulting in the father's disavowal of his newborn daughter. A snowstorm immobilizes Lexington, Ky., in 1964, and when young Norah Henry goes into labor, her husband, orthopedic surgeon Dr. David Henry, must deliver their babies himself, aided only by a nurse. Seeing his daughter's handicap, he instructs the nurse, Caroline Gill, to take her to a home and later tells Norah, who was drugged during labor, that their son Paul's twin died at birth. Instead of institutionalizing Phoebe, Caroline absconds with her to Pittsburgh. David's deception becomes the defining moment of the main characters' lives, and Phoebe's absence corrodes her birth family's core over the course of the next 25 years. David's undetected lie warps his marriage; he grapples with guilt; Norah mourns her lost child; and Paul not only deals with his parents' icy relationship but with his own yearnings for his sister as well. Though the impact of Phoebe's loss makes sense, Edwards's redundant handling of the trope robs it of credibility. This neatly structured story is a little too moist with compassion.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Interesting book if you like reading about married people having affairs.
My Sisters Keeper
This book was very well written, but sad. My copy is in good condition, but the front cover has a dog-eared corner.
This stunning novel begins on a winter night in 1964, when a blizzard forces Dr. Henry to deliver his own twins. His son born first, is perfectly healthy, but the doctor immediately recogoizes that his daughter has Down's syndrome. For motives he tells himself are good, he makes a split-second decision that will haunt all their lives for-ever. He asks his nurse, Caroline, to take the baby away to an institution. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child as her own. Compulsively readable and deeply moving, The Memory Keeper's Daughter is a brilliantly crafted story of parallel lives, familial secrets, and the redemptive power of love.
