Posted november 10, 2015 by jenny, readers advisor. David henry is a happily married orthopedic surgeon. The memory keepers daughter we dont bake muffins book club. Yet when his daughter is born, he sees immediately that she has downs syndrome. The memory keepers daughter is a pageturner, a wonderfully crafted tale of two sets of people tied by the lie of one man. Families have secrets they hide even from themselves. The memory keepers daughter just isnt very good, and at nearly 400 pages, it was with great impatience that i slogged through its overblown prose and. David, tormented by his secret, looks for solace through the lens of his camera, the memory keeper, trying to make sense of his life through the images he captures. The fictional family in, the memory keepers daughter, a novel written by kim edwards, hardly ever takes the easy road in their life, and is faced with a variety of difficult daytoday challenges.
A stirring family drama is a hit in paperback the new. The memory keepers daughter is a work of fiction written by kim edwards and published in 2005. He asks his nurse to take the baby away to an institution and to keep her birth a secret. I dont want to give too much away here but i was interested in how the henrys felt about things unfinished. The memory keepers daughter 9 september 2016 memory keepers daughter written by kim edward, the main character, david henry, made a decision that has impacted not. It has since been published in fifteen other countries. At first glance the heartfelt tale told in the memory keepers daughter has little in common with the childrens book the sea of trolls, also recommended in this issue, but dig a little deeper and a connection does appear. A new york times number one bestseller, kim edwardss debut is a skilfully packaged debateprovoker that is perfectly attuned to. It should have been an ordinary birth, the start of an ordinary happy family. The memory keepers daughter by kim edwards book club. The memory keepers daughter by kim edwards discussion.
Kim edwards stunning novel begins on a winter night in 1964 in lexington, kentucky, when a. A father separates his son from his twin sister at birth to prevent him and the mother from knowing she was born with down syndrome. Section 7 so weve come to the end of our journey with the memory keepers daughter. The multimillion copy bestseller, kim edwards the memory keepers daughter is a moving and poignant novel about grief, family and betrayal. When his wife, norah, goes into labor in the middle of a snowstorm, david realizes that the birth will have to take place in his own office instead of at the hospital as planned. Awardwinning writer kim edwardss the memory keepers daughter is a brilliantly crafted family drama that explores every mothers silent fear. Likethe memory keepers daughter, this new novel turns on the idea of a secretthat seems to be my preoccupation as a writerthough in this case the event occurred in the past and is a secret from the reader as well as from the characters, so structurally, and in its thematic concerns, the next book is an entirely new discovery. The memory keepers daughter by kim edwards page 2 of 50. With emily watson, dermot mulroney, hugh thompson, krystal hope nausbaum. In a nut shell it was well written, and a good book to discuss so if you are in a book club you should probably suggest this as your next read. Reading guide for the memory keepers daughter by kim edwards. Content includes books from bestselling, midlist and debut authors. Reading guide for the memory keepers daughter by kim edwards discussion guide for book clubs.
Compulsively readable and deeply moving, the memory keepers daughter is an astonishing tale of redemptive love. David and norah henry are expecting their first child, but they do not know that norah is actually expecting twins. Published by viking press in june 2005, the novel garnered great interest via word of mouth in the summer of 2006 and placed on the new york times paperback bestsellers list. The memory keeper s daughter by kim edwards 408pp, penguin. Right after publication, it was praised in the chicago tribune as an extraordinary debut, and a heartwrenching book, by turns light and dark, literary and suspenseful in the. When his wife, norah, goes into labor in the middle of a snowstorm, david realizes that the birth will have to take place. A novel and millions of other books are available for instant. The memory keepers daughter chapter summaries enotes. A site dedicated to book lovers providing a forum to discover and share commentary about the books and authors they enjoy.
The memory keepers daughter by kim edwards, paperback. The memory keepers daughter by kim edwards was inspired by a story about a down syndrome baby being put into an institution by his father. The memory keepers daughter, a debut novel by kim edwards, is about a doctor who delivers his wifes twins in 1964 and sends away their downsyndromeafflicted daughter at birth. David henry is determined to get his wife, norah, to the hospital in time to deliver their first child. But the night dr david henry delivers his wifes twins is a night that. Kim edwardss the memory keepers daughter 2005 follows the lives of dr. Section 4 this section seemed to be the turning point in this novel. Study questions, project ideas and discussion topics based on important themes running throughout the memory keepers daughter by kim edwards. When david hands his baby girl over to caroline and tells norah that she has died, what was your immediate emotional reaction.
The memory keepers daughter became a new york times bestseller and won both the barnes and noble discovery award and the kentucky literary award for 2005. Kim edwards, awardwinning author of the short story collection the secrets of a fire king, addresses this question in her new novel, the memory keepers daughter. The memory keepers daughter kim edwards, 2005 penguin group usa 432 pp. The memory keepers daughter just isnt very good, and at nearly 400 pages, it was at some point in this long life, im going to realise that being popular doesnt mean that a book is good. David henry is forced by a blizzard to deliver his own twins. The memory keepers daughter by sassyseventies see profile 111715. The memory keepers daughter is a thoughtful and provocative novel that explores the idea of secrecy as a moral backdrop for peoples motives, choices, behavior, and interactions. The book ends with caroline gill finally coming and telling norah about phoebe and spilling the secret that david had kept for all those years. The memory keepers daughter was published in 2005 and was number one on the new york times bestseller list. Reviewed by jan horsfall on realising the topic addressed by kim edwards in the memory keepers daughter i feared i might be in for a manipulative tearjerker. A new york times best seller by kim edwards, the memory keepers daughter is a brilliantly crafted novel of parallel lives, familial secrets, and the redemptive power of love. The memory keepers daughter is a novel by american author kim edwards that tells the story of a man who gives away his newborn daughter, who has down syndrome, to one of the nurses.
The memory keepers daughter by kim edwards goodreads. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child as her own. David henry, a doctor who has escaped his humble beginnings in rural pennsylvania, moves to lexington, kentucky, to begin his career. This article relates to the memory keepers daughter. Memory keepers daughter, the kim edwards bookclubin. But as the memory keepers daughter so eloquently shows, life is a moving image, unfolding and changing beyond our control. The previous sections touched upon the tensions, the unspoken words and the secrets that the characters were harboring. The memory keepers daughter, kim edwards the memory keepers daughter is a novel by american author kim edwards that tells the story of a man who gives away his newborn daughter, who has down syndrome, to one of the nurses.
Insight into a fathers secret when he makes a life changing decision about his newborn downs syndrome daughter. The memory keepers daughter by kim edwards the memory. Conflict immediately emerges within the novel as phoebe is born with downs syndrome and david decides to give her away. Fortunately this is not so, even though when the crunch comes 30 pages before the end, i did cry. The memory keepers daughter by kim edwards reading guide. The memory keepers daughter by kim edwards alibris. The memory keepers daughter by kim edwards about the book it is 1964 in lexington, kentucky, and a rare and sudden winter storm has blanketed the area with snow. Wasnt it just last night that i said i did not give out five stars easily.
The memory keepers daughter dermot mulroney emily watson gretchen mol 2008 a nurse emily watson raises a girl who has down syndrome after the father dermot mulroney abandons her at. Edwardss assured but schematic debut novel after her collection, the secrets of a fire king hinges on the birth of fraternal twins, a healthy boy and. Thats the premise of the memory keeper s daughter, a painful but beautiful book about how lies corrode the human soul. The memory keeper s daughter, kim edwards the memory keeper s daughter is a novel by american author kim edwards that tells the story of a man who gives away his newborn daughter, who has down syndrome, to one of the nurses. David henry, his wife, norah, and their twin children who are secretly separated at birth. Make this your next book club selection and everyone saves. Have you ever wondered how a single decision might affect every aspect of your entire life. The memory keepers daughter study guide from litcharts. The memory keepers daughter audiobook by kim edwards. Book club discussion guide the memory keepers daughter by kim edwards the year is 1964. The memory keepers daughter, a massive bestseller which lingered for 122 weeks on the new york times best seller list and was included in uncountable book clubs across the country, is in many ways an issues booka novel which deliberately asks hard questions of its readers, often engaging them in an ethical dilemma and forcing them to confront the choices they might make were they placed. In the memory keepers daughter david henry sends his daughter away, out of sight, never to be talked. The story follows the harrowed marriage of david and norah, beginning with the birth of their twins, paul and phoebe, in 1964.