The Memory Keeper's Daughter

[wrblack]

Haven't read this yet. Just read the review on the NDSS site,
www.ndss.org/content.cfm?fuseaction=NwsEvt.Article&article=1312
And it sounded interesting enough, good enough, to get the library to order a copy. So I can read it. -- Bob

[Ericsmomma]

Bob,

I read a review about this book....sounds very good. I may have to check this out at our Borders store. Dolly

[ALLISA]

this does look goood....I'd defintiely read it......after I'm done with Harry Potter !!

[Deborah]

I would be very interested in reading this

[nica1]

Thanks Bob, I can't wait to get my hands on this book. I'm still recommending Greg Palmer to friends. You must keep finding and sharing these gems! Monica

[Jackie]

I read this...its in hardback ....hmmmm...it was interesting...just not a very good book....premise was pretty lame....but the author does have some "insider" knowledge about DS. It really is NOT a book about DS however.

Jackie

[meghans_mom]

anyone else read this? it came up as a suggestion on my amazon -- bob, did you ever read it, and what did you think? laurie

[wrblack]

Laurie,
No, I still haven't seen it. Need to check on that. Couple of people just posted about this book on the list serv. Apparently it's out in paperback now. -- Bob

[wrblack]

So, I phoned our bookseller. Should have had this months ago.
But, meanwhile, here's a couple of notes:
AUTHOR NOTES
Kim Edwards teaches writing at the University of Kentucky.

BOOK JACKET
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 Down's 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 story that unfolds over a quarter of a century - in which these two families, ignorant of each other, are yet bound by the fateful decision made that long-ago winter night. Norah Henry, who knows only that her daughter died at birth, remains inconsolable; her grief weighs heavily on their marriage. And Paul, their son, raises himself as best he can, in a house grown cold with mourning. Meanwhile, Phoebe, the lost daughter, grows from a sunny child to a vibrant young woman whose mother loves her as fiercely as if she were her own.
The Memory Keeper's Daughter articulates a silent fear close to the heart of every mother: What would happen if you lost your child, and she grew up without you?

[CC]

I am in the middle of this book right now and have to say for me I am loving it. One of those books where I don't really want to put down

CC ~

[alisonzmom]

Just finished reading this last night..... or should I say this morning about 2 am!!

I really enjoyed it and had a hard time putting it down. Like Jackie said it isn't so much a book about DS although the character with DS is portrayed very well as it is family secrets and deception. My sister is also reading it and hasn't had quite the same reaction as I have had to the stories in it. I guess I've been more intrigued with the DS thread than anything else.

Definitely worth a look though.

Barb

[Jessie]

I finished this last night. It was just overall very sad I thought.

I know this is petty, but it just drove me NUTS that whenever they wrote about Ds, they spelled it Down's Syndrome. I know, I know, I needed to just get over it, but it bugged me!!!! LOL

I think I would have still enjoyed the book even if the daughter didn't have Ds but rather another disability that forced her father to make his decision.


Jessie

[CC]

YUP I too just finished this book and yes I agree with Jessie, a very sad story BUT Man I have to say I truly loved this book. Was one of those books I was sorry it was over

CC ~

[Kristin]

I read the book last month, and I really liked it. It was less predicitable than other books I've read. It really brought home the idea that you don't really know how someone will handle an unexpected twist in their life like having a child with DS. I also appreciated the father's change in point of view from the way he felt about his sister at the beginning of the story to the way he felt about her towards the end. I'm having my book club read it this month. I did like the way the child with DS was portrayed and it brought up a lot of memories of those early years for me.

[jennifergg]

Hello!

This is my very first time here and I'm glad I checked it out...we have a book club starting up at downsyn.com and the discussion begins OCT 19. I invited the book's author, Kim Edwards, to participate and she agreed! So there is an opportunity over there to "speak" with the author, ask questions, etc. if you are interested.

A little about me--I am mom to three sons, my middle boy was DX with DS at five days old. I started getting interested in online communities about a year ago, when I got good Internet access and a computer. I've only posted at downsyn.com because I am still finding my way around the different sites. I have a website of my own with pictures of my son and other children at www.jennifergrafgroneberg.com if you are interested in those things.

Okay, off to check out the rest of this site!