The Memory Keeper's Daughter: A Novel

Kim Edwards

May 2006 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

A #1 New York Times bestseller by Kim Edwards, The Memory Keeper’s Daughter is a brilliantly crafted novel of parallel lives, familial secrets, and the redemptive power of love

Kim Edwards’s stunning novel begins on a winter night in 1964 in Lexington, Kentucky, 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. 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, Caroline, to take the baby away to an institution and never to reveal the secret. 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 the fateful decision made that winter night long ago.

A family drama, The Memory Keeper’s Daughter explores every mother's silent fear: What would happen if you lost your child and she grew up without you? It is also an astonishing tale of love and how the mysterious ties that hold a family together help us survive the heartache that occurs when long-buried secrets are finally uncovered.

Ratings and reviews

It took me about 10 years to read this book. I am not kidding. I started it in 2011, approximately. For some reason, I couldn't get past two thirds of the story. Finally, I womaned up and finished it; just 3 minutes ago. Can't say it was one of the best books I have ever read but it could suit a special kind of reader. That reader must love descriptions of feelings and sensations more than a story itself. It does contain some fine thoughts about life overall, but it is a bit slow for me.

I loved "The Memory Keeper's Daughter". This book shows how one mistake can affect your life and the people around you. How David Henry and his family have to deal with the absence of their missing daughter. Edwards switches the perspective every few chapters to show how each character feels about a certain situation, so we can get a better look at how this affects everyone. This book did seem to drag a little with the over explanation of how the scene looks around the characters.

This was such a good book. It shows how one little mistake or lie takes a snowball effect and just gets bigger as time passes. This story tugged at my heart for all the characters in the book but I think my heart felt the most for Paul and all of the weight he carried until the end of the story.

About the author

Kim Edwards is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, which was translated into thirty-eight languages.She is also the author of the New York Times bestselling novel, The Lake of Dreams, and a collection of short stories, The Secrets of a Fire King.  Her honors include the Whiting Award, the British Book Award, and USA Today’s Book of the Year, as well as the Nelson Algren Award, a National Magazine Award, and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.  A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, she has taught widely in the US and Asia, and currently lives in Lexington, Kentucky.