The Memory keeper's Daughter

"The Memory Keepers Daughter" is a brilliantly crafted family drama that explores every mothers silent fear: what would happen if you lost your child and she grew up without you? On a winter night in 1964, Dr. David Henry is forced by a blizzard to deliver his own twins. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy. Yet when his daughter is born, he sees immediately that she has Downs 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 to take the baby away to an institution and never to reveal the secret. But Caroline, the nurse, cannot leave the infant. 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 David Henrys fateful decision that long-ago winter night. A rich and deeply moving page-turner, "The Memory Keepers Daughter" captures the way life takes unexpected turns and how the mysterious ties that hold a family together help us survive the heartache that occurs when long-buried secrets burst into the open. It is an astonishing tale of redemptive love.



I wanted to read as loads of Bookcrossing.com members have read it so I thought I'd see why it's been so popular.

I thought the premise of the story was great, it got me emotionally involved very early on in the book and I just had to see how things turned out. It was interesting thinking about how I would've reacted to David's predicament if I was viewing his situation from 1964 rather than 2008.

I thought the book went on rather too long and found myself speed reading towards the end, but on the whole this was a thought provoking read.