The Memory Keeper’s Daughter

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter
Kim Edwards
Pengiun Books
ISBN: 0 14 30.3714 5
Fiction, Contemporary
Reviewed by Candace Mahoney

Dr. David Henry has a terrible secret. When he delivered his own twins and saw that one had Down’s Syndrome, he made the decision to institutionalize her, telling his wife, Norah, that the baby had died. Now, the unavoidable consequences play out as David’s secret gnaws away at his marriage, Norah struggles to deal with the loss of their child, and their son grows up in a family shaped by regret and deception.
Nurse Caroline Gill has a secret, too. Finding herself unable to relinquish the baby to the indifferent institution to which she is directed, she chooses to raise the child as her own. Suddenly thrust into the roles of both mother and special needs activist, and at the same time worried that she will be found out and her daughter taken away, Caroline has her own juggling act to do.
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter is a compelling read that touches the heart as Edwards explores not only the repercussions of David’s act, but the events in his life that led him to make his fateful decision. It is a masterfully crafted story of tragedy and heartbreak, but also of hope, love and redemption.