Group Discussions

The Memory Keeper's Daughter

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  I have had a tendency to shy away from books that start with a dramatic and life altering beginning. Mysteries that start with a murder. Novels where the protagonist is changed by a traumatic experience. Starting on a downer, making me cry and upset has never set a good mood for me to I dive into a book.
  
  So, after picking up and putting down The Memory Keeper's Daughter from bookstore shelves over the past few years, I finally bought the book. Maybe it was the cover with the little girls gossamer shirt floating above the snow fairy like that tugged at my heart and made me think of my daughter. Maybe standing in an airport bookstore, getting ready for a 22 hour trip, and three weeks without seeing my kids, the cover just grabbed me. But, what ever it was, I was hooked as soon as I started reading it.
  
  The characters are so human. Flawed, but not fatally so. You can understand them, connect to them, and see yourself and people you know in their personalities and emotions.
  
  For those that are not familiar with this book, it is a story of a young father that delivers his twins on a snowy night. Set against the innocence and misguided practices of the early 60's, when one child, his daughter, is born with Down's, he makes the decision to have the nurse take the baby to an institution. He tells his wife that their son was born healthy and that their daughter had died. The nurse, horrified by the conditions of the institution, raises the child herself. Kim Edwards takes you through what happens next across 25 years as each character is changed by this secret and how it affects their lives, relationships, and understanding of themselves.
  
  I couldn't put it down. It made me think about who I was as a mother, what it meant to be a mother, and think about what a marriage is based on. I loved it.
  
  Have you read it? What did you think?

  Flag as inappropriate Posted by Michele on 26th July 2008
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  I read it a couple of months ago for my Mommy book club. It was a great book. I too found myself relating to the characters and really feeling for them. I had a hard time putting this one down.

  Flag as inappropriate Posted by peytonjacksmama on 30th July 2008
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  I have been picking this book up at the bookstore and putting it back for a long time, not able to decide if I want to buy it. Now that I know it's so good, I will pick it up and take it home the next time.

  Flag as inappropriate Posted by OmKareem on 19th August 2008