Book #54: The Memory Keeper's Daughter

Title: The Memory Keeper's Daughter

Author: Kim Edwards

Oops, I forgot that I read this one when I was on vacation. In fact, after sitting on the toilet reading for two nights, I finished the other book, so I ran out and got this one at a really cool little bookstore in West Yellowstone, MT (who knew?). Anyway, I loved this book, maybe because I felt a little bit of a personal connection to it. In the mid 1950s, my grandparents had a child born with big-time special needs. They kept him at home for a few years, but eventually institutionalized him when he was about three. I guess that was pretty common practice at the time, and they had six kids in total, so their hands were full. A few years later, they moved from Michigan to Pennsylvania, where services for the disabled weren't as good, so they felt their best option was to make him a ward of the state in Michigan. We visited him a number of times when I was a child, but over the years, we lost track of him. Now, no one knows where he is, or if he died (which considering his special needs and his age, is probably the more likely scenario). Anyway, it weighs heavily on my grandmother's mind and she really wishes she could just find out what happened to her son.

Anyway, in The Memory Keeper's Daughter, Norah Henry goes into labor during a snowstorm in the winter of 1964. When it becomes apparent that they won't make it to the hospital, David, her doctor husband takes her to his office to deliver the baby instead. He anesthetizes his wife (common practice at the time) and he and his nurse are surprised when the wife is giving birth to twins, one born with Down's Syndrome. The husband (influenced by his past) panics, and gives the baby to his nurse, Caroline Gill, with instructions to take her to an institution. When his wife regains consciousness, he tells her that she has given birth to twins, but one of the babies has died. The nurse takes the baby to the institution, but can't bear to leave her there and instead runs away and raises the child as her own. In the ensuing 25 years, David Henry must deal with the ramifications of his decision, and Caroline Gill finds joy in raising Phoebe and helping her make something of her life. I loved this book! I highly recommend it.

--originally published 8/11/06