I just read this fabulous book: The Memory Keeper's DaughterIt is an Adult fiction, and contains adult content. It took me a little longer to read because I wanted to enjoy it and I'm used to reading YA fiction so it was harder for me to read fast.
The plot is that in the beginning a man and his wife are preparing to have a baby. It was a winter stormy night so he ends up delivering the baby with his nurse by his side. They have a boy, then his wife passes in and out of consciousness and needless to say they also have a baby girl. Well, he notices that the girl has Down Syndrome, so while his wife is passed out, he hands the baby to the nurse and tells her to take her to an institution for the mentally handicapped. Then when his wife wakes up, he tells her that they did have twins and that the baby girl died. She asks to see her body but he says he already took care of it. Meanwhile, the nurse takes the baby to the institution and it is in in horrible condition so she ends up taking the baby and running away with it to raise her. So this book takes place from the late 50's to the late 80's and goes throught their whole lives. David and Norah ( the couple) raise their son, and the nurse Caroline raises their daughter. This story is about David's lie and how one circumstance can damage people's lives. I totally understand why he would do this to his wife and it explains why he wanted to protect her. The end is shocking, but it ends just how I would want it to.
While reading the book I was really into it and couldn't focus much on anything else. It is a little depressing, but I love the way the author portrays each character and their inner thoughts and secrets. It is about deceit, betrayel, depression, but in the end forgiveness. It was beautifully done and doesn't have questionable inappropriate scenes, but it does contain adult content and I would not recommend it to teenagers. I had this book on hold forever at the library so when I finally got it I savored it and enjoyed it thoroughly. If you are looking for a good book, I recommend this one as well.
3 comments:
You know, it was a pretty good book, but it just bugged me the whole time that he wouldn't tell his wife and their lives as a family were so messed up!
yeah, but how many times did he want to, you know? It seemed like every year the he said, "This is the day I am going to tell her" because he watched their relationship dwindle. while I am so frustrated with him, I can also see his intentions. In that time period there was so much ignorance with children with disabilities and he truly thought he was saving his wife from grief, believing the baby would die. While a part of me thinks his decision was so inhuman, it also was a decision he made thinking of the well-being of his wife.
Sarah, Did you see they've made a TV movie out of this? It's supposed to be on Lifetime in a few weeks.
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