By Katie Potzick
Award-winning writer Kim Edwards’ “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?
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter is a page turner set in nearby Lexington, Ky.
The novel begins with a snow storm in 1964 that forces Dr. Henry to deliver his own set of twins. The boy twin is born healthy, while the girl has Down Syndrome.
Henry makes the decision to secretly send the girl to an institution, and tell his wife that the baby died shortly after birth. However, the nurse entrusted with removing the baby whisks it away to a different city where she raises her as her own daughter.
This decision and the consequences it brings for everyone involved is the focus of the novel.
The story spans 25 years and is a suspenseful, gripping ride through the tangles of each family’s lives and a poignant look at the devastation deceit and guilt can wrought.
A reviewer at the Library Journal stated, “A haunting, tragic, and distressing family tale, an enthralling page-turner primarily because it centers on an abysmal act by one individual that affects everyone for whom he cares.”
It was also on both the New York Times’ and USA Today’s bestseller lists.
Edwards takes on many themes in this novel, including the burden of secrets, the loneliness of a disintegrating marriage and the heartache and triumph of raising children.
But most pointedly, the need for developmentally disabled children to feel accepted by society.
“The Memory Keeper’s Daughter” reveals the strength of family bonds under unique and difficult circumstances.
