What would you do: The Memory Keeper’s Daughter

The last few books I’ve read have either been historical non-fiction, or related to business, communications and that ilk.

So for a change, I detoured to The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards. I found my way to the novel via a recommendation from my dear friend Tara; her recommendations on most things creative are a sure win.

To be honest, I found the book to be a bit slow getting started. After the disaster that was All the Presidents’ Children, I found myself frightened—could I even make it through the book? I couldn’t possibly give up on two books in a row, could I?

I worried for nothing. Once the book caught hold of me, there was no turning back. The captivating story set in the 1960s, and leading its readers right through the quarter century that follows, is the story of the Henry family. Dr. David Henry and his wife Norah set out to have themselves the perfect nuclear family, but when Dr. Henry discovers—during childbirth—that his wife is delivering twins, he faces a moral dilemma. You see, his son Paul is born first, and scores “a nine on the Apgar… very good.” Up next is Phoebe, and Dr. Henry recognizes that she has been born with Down syndrome.

In the 1960s, that meant an early death, following an unhappy life. In an instant, he decides to ask his nurse to take Phoebe to an institution, and he tells his wife Norah that Phoebe was stillborn.

This split-second decision shapes the rest of their lives. In time, I found sympathy for each of the main characters, and found myself wondering what I’d have done in Dr. Henry’s shoes.