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The Memory Keeper's Daughter
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The Memory Keeper's Daughter
Author: Kim Edwards

Book Information
Publisher: Penguin
Book Type: Paperback
Rating:

ISBN-13: 9780143037149 - ISBN-10: 0143037145
Publication Date: 6/2006
Pages: 432

Book Description:
Kim Edwards's stunning family drama evokes the spirit of Sue Miller and Alice Sebold, articulating every mother's 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 Keeper's Daughter is an astonishing tale of redemptive love.

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Top Member Book Reviews

Tiffany L. wrote on 8/5/2007...

80 member(s) found this review helpful.

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.

Denise S. (Denise547) wrote on 9/27/2007...

60 member(s) found this review helpful.

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.

Michelle R. (lilynlilac) wrote on 7/16/2007...

52 member(s) found this review helpful.

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.

Jennifer W. (craftwriternyc) wrote on 8/11/2007...

38 member(s) found this review helpful.

Although well received, I did not find this book very compelling. Full of predictable cliches, the book was a disappointment.

Kimberly A. (proudArmywifey) wrote on 8/24/2007...

35 member(s) found this review helpful.

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.

Sally W. wrote on 8/21/2007...

28 member(s) found this review helpful.

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.

Gretchen F. (MOMSBOOKS) wrote on 7/9/2007...

28 member(s) found this review helpful.

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.)

Carrie M. (ScoutMaster) wrote on 6/23/2007...

23 member(s) found this review helpful.

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...

Marilyn F. (Ijetasmaz) wrote on 7/24/2007...

20 member(s) found this review helpful.

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.

Emily H. (emilyh) - Westminster, CO wrote on 7/20/2007...

20 member(s) found this review helpful.

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.


Please Rate these Book Reviews

Theresa C. wrote on 11/2/2009...


This book was ok, not one of my favorites, but good enough to pass the time.

Dan F. wrote on 10/30/2009...


Sad story

Catherine T. (phonelady61) wrote on 10/1/2009...


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.

Susan D. (QwertyO) wrote on 9/30/2009...


I have no idea why this one was so popular. Not my most favorite book.

Kris G. wrote on 7/27/2009...


My Sisters Keeper

David B. wrote on 7/23/2009...


Excellent story! Well worth the time. A book I could not put down!

Cherie R. wrote on 7/21/2009...


There were times it was hard to book the book down.

Anna G. (novembergirl) wrote on 7/9/2009...


Overall a good story but too slow for my tastes.

Maria M. wrote on 7/5/2009...


I was enjoying this book, until the ending. I just found the resolution to be completely beyond reasonable belief.


JoAnn T. (jtavon) wrote on 6/26/2009...


This was a good suspense story.
I beleive it was made into a movie, but I could be wrong.

Worth reading.


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