First Quarter Outside Reading Book Review

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards. Penguin Books, 2006.
Genre: Realistic fiction

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter is an intriguing story about Dr. David Henry who decides to give his handicapped child away without his wife knowing it saying that she had passed away during birth. The book is based around how she grows up with another women who was supposed to bring her to a special needs home, and the struggle of the relationship between the doctor, his wife, and their daughters pretend “death” that the doctor had lied about. Set in Lexington, the book is interesting and a wonderful read.

Jodi Picoult states about the authors work, “Kim Edwards has created a tale of regret and redemption...of characters haunted by their past.” While the book jacket reads, “For motives he tells himself are good, [Dr. Henry] makes a split-second decision that will haunt all their lives forever.”

In this book, the reader is able to see two different separated lives through different people’s eyes. The book puts you in question about what’s to happen next, mysterious, about love, loss, and secrets. There were good descriptions about the times when Norah was actually happy, or in great despair, and I could always picture what was going on very well.
This book is shows two different separated lives, intertwining with sadness, regret, and redemption. This book reminds me a lot of My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult, not only because of the name, but by how it shows views from different people, and how much of the story is about family troubles, love, and hardship. Both of the books kept me thinking about what the person could have done to make the situation better and about what would happen next.

“It was true that he’d once sought unity, as if the underlying correspondences between tulips and lings, weins and tress, flesh and earthm might reveal a pattern he could understand...he would stand watching her- this mystery, a person he would never really know, curled around her secrets” (202).

Having a cousin with down-syndrome who is my age, I could never picture my aunt or uncle ever even think about haven given her away. But in this story, I knew that it was only from his past bad experiences that Dr. David Henry made these decisions. Everyone has felt it in their lives, the feeling of regret, and doctor Henry kept this lifelong secret. I really liked this book and felt that I learned something from the relationships, hard times, and love that happened in this book.