The Bremen Readers' latest discussion was about The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, by Kim Edwards. The book follows two families whose lives are intertwined by the same secret, a secret that began with the birth of a child.
It is 1964 and Dr. David Henry is a happily married man whose wife, Norah is pregnant with their first child. As she goes into labor, they drive through the snow to Henry’s clinic. There they are joined by Caroline Gill, Dr. Henry’s nurse. Norah gives birth to a healthy baby boy, and then his twin sister. When Dr. Henry realizes his daughter has Down’s Syndrome, he gives the baby to Nurse Gill and instructs her to take the baby to an institution. He then tells Norah that their daughter was stillborn. When Nurse Gill gets to the institution, she realizes that she cannot leave the infant there, and instead raises her as her own.
Edwards leads us through the lives of these two families, one of which unravels as the book progresses. The story made for an interesting book discussion as the Readers were both saddened by the demise of Dr. Henry’s immediate family, and uplifted by the turnout of his daughter. While no one agreed with Dr. Henry’s decision, all could understand how such a thing could happen, particularly in the 1960s. And of course, had Dr. Henry not given his infant up, there would be no book. The book did have a pleasing ending, which helped make up for its often sad storyline. The Readers ended up giving The Memory Keeper’s Daughter a rating of 3.125.
s efregg dg ttfgrtg
ReplyDelete