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  • 花了好久的時間，才終於把五百多頁的"The Memory Keeper's Daughter (中譯: 不存在的女兒)"看完。想看它，是因為看網路上都說這本的震撼程度 和The Kite Runner(追風箏的孩子)有得拼。

    這兩本書講的都是Redemption。The memory Keeper's daughter中的醫生David因為女兒是唐氏症，一出生就送 給收容所，並撒了一個謊說女兒一出生就死了，這個謊就像個陰影一樣 跟了他一輩子，導致全家人都有各自不可告人的秘密，最後整個家庭分 崩離析，他只能透過當一個攝影師，紀錄對家人的愛、拍攝路邊別的女 生影像、只能透過每個月寄錢 ... Continue

    花了好久的時間，才終於把五百多頁的"The Memory Keeper's Daughter (中譯: 不存在的女兒)"看完。想看它，是因為看網路上都說這本的震撼程 度和The Kite Runner(追風箏的孩子)有得拼。

    這兩本書講的都是Redemption。The memory Keeper's daughter中的醫生David因為女兒是唐氏症，一出生就 送給收容所，並撒了一個謊說女兒一出生就死了，這個謊就像個陰影 一樣跟了他一輩子，導致全家人都有各自不可告人的秘密，最後整個 家庭分崩離析，他只能透過當一個攝影師，紀錄對家人的愛、拍攝路 邊別的女生影像、只能透過每個月寄錢給不忍心把Phoebe送到 收容所而自己收養的護士手中、只能透過支助一個跟他小孩年紀相仿 的蹺家女孩，去進行redemption。講的是親情的背叛與救 贖。

    The Kite Runner中的Amir則是因年幼時親眼見到兒時好友(家中僕 人的兒子)被壞孩子欺負而未前去救援，導致這個陰影跟著他一輩子 ，他朋友對他一直都沒變，他卻背叛他的朋友，最後只能透過回到阿 富汗救出他好友的兒子到美國過生活來進行一輩子的救贖。講的是友 情的背叛與救贖。

    兩個故事裡，後悔的人都是社會身份地位很高的人，但故事的發展都 是一樣，一輩子活在陰影中，一輩子追求救贖的方式。The Memory Keeper's Daughter中的David在還沒講出秘密時就突然心臟病發 死了，妻兒知道真相後恨他，他也無法表達道歉了。而The Kite Runner中的Amir也沒好到哪裡去，在他還沒辦法親口對好 友道歉時，好友就已經離開人世。一樣的意思，一個道歉，一個對方 永遠聽不到的遺憾。

    我覺得這兩本書比起來，The Memory Keeper's Daughter所說的家庭問題真的很真實，建築在謊言之下的家 庭，導致家中不再有情感上的交流，導致妻子不斷外遇、寄託於事業 、導致兒子不顧一切離家追求夢想。我想這種家庭在現在的世界上應 該不少見，更可悲的是很多家庭在和樂的外表下，隱藏著的問題是沒 有人願意或有勇氣面對的。但就故事張力上來看，我還是覺得The Kite Runner的震撼力較大，或許我對友情背叛的題材比較有感覺吧 。記得當時這本書對我而言真的是本page-turner，無論 工作前一天加班多累，隔天早上在公車上我一定會繼續讀它，那個故 事中所留下的遺憾真的讓我很震撼！

    相較之下，我還是比較喜歡the Kite Runner。但另一本其實也還不錯，作者的描述很細膩，邊看腦 中都能像電影一般出現視覺畫面，雖然我花的時間比較長，但也算一 本好小說。

    

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• ― ricecan said on Sep 18, 2007 about the Others edition| Add your feedback

• 2 people find this helpful

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  • 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 2, 2007 about the Paperback edition| Add your feedback

• 2 people find this helpful

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  • This is another book which I do not know what the hype is all about. It is quite easy to read though.

    The story is too hackneyed - I have seen similar plots in a few movies in the 1950s/60s. Twins - one healthy and the other born with Down Syndrome - were separated since birth due to a decis ... Continue

    This is another book which I do not know what the hype is all about. It is quite easy to read though.

    The story is too hackneyed - I have seen similar plots in a few movies in the 1950s/60s. Twins - one healthy and the other born with Down Syndrome - were separated since birth due to a decision made by their physician father who would regret this for the rest of his life. Torn by grief and guilt, this family would never be the same again.

    There is nothing wrong with the plot. It's just that it is far too long and quite boring. The characters are abominable and none of them has my sympathy - they brought upon themselves their misery.

    Compared with The Kite Runner, a masterpiece on guilt and redemption, The Memory Keeper's Daughter is just an entry-level novel. Not recommended.

    

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• ― Tracy W said on Jun 19, 2007 about the Others edition| Add your feedback

• .

  • The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards.

  • A well written story covering a somewhat disturbing subject in a sensitive manner. If you want to learn more about how Downs Syndromes sufferers are not really that different from the rest of us, read this. They are innocent and loving victims and unlike the rest of us see the world generally throug ... Continue

    A well written story covering a somewhat disturbing subject in a sensitive manner. If you want to learn more about how Downs Syndromes sufferers are not really that different from the rest of us, read this. They are innocent and loving victims and unlike the rest of us see the world generally through rose coloured glasses.

    A poignant story that drew me in very quickly. Dr David Henry’s wife Norah goes into labour on the night of a severe snowstorm. The snowstorm results in circumstances that result in David having to deliver the twins himself. The firstborn is a healthy son, Paul but the unexpected second child is a girl, Phoebe, with obvious signs of Downs Syndrome.

    Taking place in 1964 when attitudes towards those with Downs Syndrome were very different, the reaction of David Henry as a doctor would have been considered normal. However the decision he makes that night betrays his wife in the most shocking way possible. One impulsive disastrous decision haunts his life and others around him for the next twenty-five years.

    Well worth reading, a brilliant start to 2008 as my first book read this year. One I will still be thinking about many months after reading.

    

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• ― Lindyloumac said on Aug 25, 2009 about the Paperback edition| Add your feedback

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  • I thought this was a good book, in that I liked the story itself. I could relate also. In that time period, when they jsut didn't understand, they didn't feel they had any choices. It was well written, but I found it slow, not very descriptive....
    and it read too much like a true story....

    

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• ― N Eggen said on Jul 25, 2009 about the Paperback edition| Add your feedback

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  • a tough, tender, thought provoking novel...

    

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• ― Vin said on May 18, 2009 about the Paperback edition| Add your feedback

Award-winning writer Kim Edwards’s The Memory Keeper’s Daughter is a brilliantly crafted 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 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 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.

A rich and deeply moving page-turner, 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 occurs when long-buried secrets burst into the open. It is an astonishing tale of redemptive love.

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