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The Memory Keeper's Daughter

By Kim Edwards

(66)

| Paperback | 9780143037149

Book Description

Dr. David Henry is forced by a blizzard to deliver his own twins. His son is perfectly healthy, but his daughter has Down's syndrome. Rationalizing it as a need to protect his wife, he asks his nurse to take the baby away to an institution. Instead, the nurse disappears into another city to raise thContinue

Dr. David Henry is forced by a blizzard to deliver his own twins. His son is perfectly healthy, but his daughter has Down's syndrome. Rationalizing it as a need to protect his wife, he asks his nurse to take the baby away to an institution. Instead, the nurse disappears into another city to raise the child herself.Award-winning writer Kim Edwards's "The Memory Keeper's Daughter is a brilliantly crafted, completely riveting family drama that explores every mother's silent fear: 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 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 beautifully told story that unfolds over a quarter of a century--in which these two families, ignorant of each other, are yet bound by David Henry's fateful decision that long-ago winter night. Rich, compulsively readable, and deeply moving, "The Memory Keeper's Daughter captures the way life takes unexpected turns, and how the mysterious ties that hold a family together help us survive the heartache that hold a occurs when long-buried secrets burst into the open. It is an astonishing tale of redemptive love. [예스24 제공]

7 Reviews

  • 2 people find this helpful

    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 tha ... (continue)

    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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    ― meganzing said on Jul 3, 2007 | Add your feedback

  • 1 person find this helpful

    *** This comment contains spoilers! ***

    Amazing story of a woman's decision to rise her boss's disabled daughter (twin son was healthy) after he gave her the infant to drop off at an institution because the baby had Downs' Syndrome. Throughout the years she wrote to him about the progress of the child and he would send her money. It's a ... (continue)

    Amazing story of a woman's decision to rise her boss's disabled daughter (twin son was healthy) after he gave her the infant to drop off at an institution because the baby had Downs' Syndrome. Throughout the years she wrote to him about the progress of the child and he would send her money. It's a sad and happy story. And incredibly written.

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    ― SaraA said on May 19, 2008 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

  • 1 person find this helpful

    Pretty bleah. The author was way too wordy and included an extreme amount of detail that no one actually could ever care about. The characters all seemed dull and unreal. I was never interested in any of them. Plot line was double-dull. It's not 1 star, because I finished it without too much pa ... (continue)

    Pretty bleah. The author was way too wordy and included an extreme amount of detail that no one actually could ever care about. The characters all seemed dull and unreal. I was never interested in any of them. Plot line was double-dull. It's not 1 star, because I finished it without too much pain, but there was a night where I had to just put it down and read something else instead because I couldn't stand it any more for a while.

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    ― Deanna Kyre said on May 1, 2008 | Add your feedback

  • Heartbreaking but Beautiful

    I loved this book although it broke my heart. The story is beautifully written but so heartwrenching. It was hard responding to David after what he did but little by little I began to see that he was truly suffering. In the end, he made amends in his way. I disliked Norah until the last few chap ... (continue)

    I loved this book although it broke my heart. The story is beautifully written but so heartwrenching. It was hard responding to David after what he did but little by little I began to see that he was truly suffering. In the end, he made amends in his way. I disliked Norah until the last few chapters of the book when I saw exactly what she went through as a result of David. I will definitely recommend this to my book club friends.

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    ― Bibliophile said on Nov 26, 2008 | Add your feedback

  • A memorable book that's well written. The characters are so real that you can't help identifying with them. I found myself wondering what I would've done in the father's circumstances (I hope I would've done the right thing.), and in the nurse's circumstances. I recommend this one.

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    ― Miraclesmommadesigns said on Oct 31, 2008 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

  • Always love a book which makes me imagine what if that was me and what would I have done.

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    ― Eperce said on Mar 9, 2008 | Add your feedback

Book Details

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Prices Change currency & sellers

ISBN Edition List Sale Seller
9780143037149 Paperback $15.00 $10.20 Amazon US
£14.00 -- Amazon UK
$16.50 $12.05 Amazon CA
¥1819.00 ¥1698.00 Amazon JP
€10.98 €10.98 Amazon FR
-- €10.95 Amazon DE
Other editions →
+ 23 copies tradable: 1 in USA →

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