OK here is a little relationship tip for all you guys and gals out there. Ladies if you are pregnant and you get stuck in a freak snow storm and your husband has to deliver your child, make sure you stay awake through out the whole ordeal. And fella's if your wife is pregnant and you get stuck in a freak snow storm and you have to deliver your own child don't claim the baby died and then send it off to live with the nurse that helped with the delivery. This isn't good for your marriage. It causes problems, and tension, and walls to be built up. And I'm no psychologist people, but I do know that this may lead to divorce some where down the line! You may snicker at this little scenario and tell yourself well that won't ever happen to me, but be warned my friends, because this is just what happened in The Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards.
So here is a little run down on what happens in this story. David Henry is very much in love with his wife Nora. So in love in fact that he wants to shelter her from heartbreak and a life of struggle, so when he has to deliver his twins on one cold and blustery night he keeps their perfect son (Paul) and sends off his less than perfect (in his opinion) daughter (Pheobe, she has Down Syndrome) off with the nurse (Caroline) while his wife is still passed out from the gas they gave delivering mothers back in the '60s (ummm... What happened to that gas). When Nora wakes up David tells his wife that their daughter was born dead and that he had sent her little body with the nurse to dispose of. This starts a downward spiral in to a life of depression for Nora. She loves Paul with all her heart but she always has a missing part of her soul for her daughter that she never even got to see. Mean while David is living with this horrible secret that his daughter is alive and well and living with Caroline somewhere out there in the world.
The story hops back and forth from one Characters point of view to another and I really enjoyed getting into all the characters heads. Except for Nora's; I was so annoyed with Nora's life, I know I was supposed to feel sorry for her because she was unaware that her daughter was out there somewhere and she was struggling with an unhappy marriage and depression, but I got really tired of her depression, and her "whoa as me" attitude. I enjoyed the chapters about Pheobe and Caroline the best. I have always had a soft place in my heart for people with Down Syndrome and they depicted Pheobe perfectly with a big heart and an sweet and inquisitive personality, I just instantly fell in love with her. Also, I loved that the book took place in Kentucky between Lexington and Louisville. There are so few books that take place here in Kentucky so when one does I LOVE it because I can picture the people and the places they live so vividly! I was listening to the book not reading it and it felt like it took me 27 years (the span on the book) to listen to it. It was LONG in other words. Even though I enjoyed it I was SOOOOOO ready for it to be over by the end. In a nut shell it was well written, and a good book to discuss so if you are in a book club you should probably suggest this as your next read!
BOOK vs. MOVIE: Lifetime made this a TV movie back in 2008 and I am sure it is a tear jerker because most Lifetime movies are. I haven't seen it but I think I might search it out. I would love to see how it compares. I hope it doesn't feel as long as the book felt.
RATING: 3 stars
3 More reviews on The Memory Keepers Daughter:
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
ISBN 1428125558
14 Discs (16 hours 15 minutes)
Narrated by Martha Plimpton
It sounds quite depressing, I must say.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's very curious, there has been an Indian movie with almost exactly the same plot made almost 15 years ago.
Coincidence?