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    The Memory Keeper's Daughter
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    The Memory Keeper's Daughter
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    The Memory Keeper's Daughter
    Audiobook15 hours

    The Memory Keeper's Daughter

    Written by Kim Edwards

    Narrated by Ilyana Kadushin

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    A #1 New York Times bestseller by Kim Edwards, The Memory Keeper's Daughter is a brilliantly crafted novel of parallel lives, familial secrets, and the redemptive power of love

    Kim Edwards's stunning novel begins on a winter night in 1964 in Lexington, Kentucky, when a blizzard forces Dr. David Henry to deliver his own twins. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy, but the doctor immediately recognizes that his daughter has Down syndrome. Rationalizing it as a need to protect Norah, his wife, he makes a split second decision that will alter all of their lives forever. He asks his nurse, Caroline, to take the baby away to an institution and never to reveal the secret. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child herself. So begins this beautifully told story that unfolds over a quarter of a century-in which these two families, ignorant of each other, are yet bound by the fateful decision made that winter night long ago.

    A family drama, The Memory Keeper's Daughter explores every mother's silent fear: What would happen if you lost your child and she grew up without you? It is also an astonishing tale of love and how the mysterious ties that hold a family together help us survive the heartache that occurs when long-buried secrets are finally uncovered.


    From the Trade Paperback edition.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateOct 18, 2016
    ISBN9781524757380
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for The Memory Keeper's Daughter

    3.5/5

    4,945 ratings278 reviews

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    • 1/5
      I attempted to read this but it was a little "too much" for me right now. Maybe later....
    • 4/5
      This was the story about one man's decision to 'get rid of' one of his twins because of she had Down's Syndrome and the life-long ramifications of this decision for him and his family. It was set in the middle 1960's which is important to keep in mind when trying to understand the motivation behind this decision. I would assume that the medical and educational helps we have access to today wouldn't necessarily have been available then so in one sense this man's decision could be seen as perfectly logical.

      Having said the above, I did feel that David, as good as his intentions may have seemed to him at the time, was being highly insensitive to take upon himself, without discussion with his wife, the decision to 'get rid of' Phoebe as if someone had made him God. The thing that really irked me about him was how he never included his wife in deciding what to do. Phoebe was not just his child but also Norah's and as such she had the right to be included in any, and all, decision making. As a result of David's lies (telling Norah that Phoebe was dead) was that he built a huge wedge between him and Norah which naturally affected their marital relationship (which he acknowledged many, many years later). Norah became distant from him, in part because he was caring around so much unnecessary guilt, but also because a part of her hadn't been able to really accept that Phoebe was dead, which of course she wasn't. Essentially one person's lies in this relationship slowly ate away at it leading to a very dysfunctional and unhealthy existence between the two.

      I really admired Caroline for taking on the challenge of raising Phoebe like she did. I also admire her for seeing beyond the disability to the child underneath. This makes a massive difference to how someone responds to another human being. In the end, after David's death, Caroline was the one who had to break to Norah that her daughter was in fact very much alive and doing really well for herself. This was a credit to Caroline for believing that Phoebe had a right to some sort of existence and to be treated as much as possible as a normal human being. This she did with great aplomb and with a determination that allowed her to fight for both a better education for people like Phoebe and better medical care as well.

      This book provides the reader with an excellent snapshot into the consequences of not only lying, but lying within an otherwise healthy relationship and how this affects the relationship. It also speaks to those who have children with a disability about the importance of fighting for that child's rights because they're human beings that deserve the best that can be provided. But I also believe there's another level that this book speaks to: the importance of not being rushed to grieve and get it over with. This latter level, in today's extremely busy society where everything needs to be done yesterday almost, there has never been a more important message to get out there. Grieving can not, and should not, be rushed. People grieve in different ways and at different times and this needs to not only be accepted, but also to be acknowledged.
    • 3/5
      This book was truly captivating. The way Dr. Henry handles the situation at hand is cleverly crafted and keeps the reader's attention from beginning to end. Edwards does an amazing job telling the story as it most likely would have happened in the early 1960s. My only complaint is that the movie based on this book leaves out details that I found to be key parts of the story, as well as a slightly different ending that takes away the mystery the book left.
    • 1/5
      I thought I was going to cry over this one, but nah.

      To be frank, I was saddened and dismayed by the The Memory Keeper's Daughter. The whole thing revolved on that one event, when the twins were delivered and the other one with Down syndrome taken away by the nurse under the father/doctor's instructions. I think that was the only significant thing that happened. From there it just tells the unfolding of each one of their lives.

      I don't know, it's just that it told how one family went downhill and how the other went by well. What happened to David's (father/doctor) family was disappointing.

      And only two parts of the book got some real emotion from me: David's death, and the twins, Paul and Phoebe's reconnection at the end of the novel.

      I thought there was "something" in this book. I thought it was somewhere along the lines between The Time Traveler's Wife or Tuesdays with Morrie or whatever. But no. So, 1 star.
    • 4/5
      It was surprising to me that a book in which a main character has Down Syndrome would misspell the name of this condition. That sort of sets the tone - it is beautifully written for the most part, but doesn't seem plugged in to how real people feel and act. At first, I found it to be a compelling read, but then it became sort of a slog as we had to check in with these unhappy people every few years while we waited to find out how the inevitable Big Reveal would come down.
    • 4/5
      From the book cover:
      "This stunning novel begins on a winter night in 1964, when a blizzard forces Dr. David Henry to deliver his own twins. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy, but the doctor immediately recognizes that his daughter has Down syndrome. For motives he tells himself are good, he makes a split-second decision that will haunt all their lives forever. He asks his nurse, Caroline, to take the baby away to an institution. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child as her own."

      I loved this book. The characters seemed so real to me. The story is told in a parallel way. The one side is Dr. Henry's side. We see how he struggles with his guilt over letting his daughter go and the lie he has told his wife, and later his son. We see how Dr. Henry's wife, Norah, deals with the grief of a dead child. We see how the secret has built walls between them and led to more secrets. We get another view of this from Paul, their son as well. In the other parallel, we follow Caroline as she struggles to take care of not only a baby, but one with a condition that, at the time, gives very little hope for the girl's survival. We see how she struggles to get equal rights for Phoebe, such as a public education and the chance to live a normal life.

      As stated, I loved it. It was very well written and managed to let me somewhat feel what the characters were going through. The entire time I kept wondering if David would one day tell Norah and Paul the truth or if it would never come to light. Would he one day want to see Phoebe? What would happen if/when Norah and Paul learned that Phoebe was alive and happy? Totally well worth the read and I highly recommend it.
    • 2/5
      Cloying, cliche-riddled, gag inducing drivel
    • 2/5
      Rather disappointing, really.
    • 4/5
      This storyline is about a secret; a terrible, life-altering secret that is kept for more than 25 years. The revealing of the secret is actually freeing for those who are involved. The story begins in 1964 when Dr. David Henry delivers his own babies due to a snowstorm. The son is a normal baby boy; the girl has Down's Syndrome. While the wife is still "out" he instructs his nurse, Caroline, to take the baby girl to an institution, as back in the 1960's most Down's Syndrome children did not have a long life span. He did this with the best of intentions. He had a mentally retarded sister who died at age 13 and his mother never recovered.
    • 4/5
      This is a story about how the choices one makes in a split second can affect you and everyone around you for years to come. Dr. David Henry has to choose between his Down Syndrome baby daughter and his wife and "normal" son or he thinks he has to. His son and daughter are twins, born in Dr. Henry's office with only his nurse in attendance. Dr. Henry chooses to send the baby girl off with his nurse to be given to an institution and he tells his wife that the daughter was born dead. The nurse, Caroline, decides that the institution is no place for the girl to be raised and she decides to go away and raise Phoebe as her own daughter. Even though his wife and son don't know that Phoebe is alive, they sense that there is something missing in their life and the family disintegrates bit by bit. Caroline, on the other hand, is strengthened by her decision and makes enduring friendships as a result. My rating of this story would probably have been even higher if I could have accepted the beginning as plausible. The book raises important questions about how society views people with mental challenges. And it raises even more important issues about interpersonal relationships. My book club thought it was well-written although we all had problems with the beginning. If you can suspend your judgment of the implausibility of the critical scene at the beginning, you will find this an engaging read.
    • 5/5
      Dr. David Henry and his wife are expecting a lovely child. Their life is perfect and they have no worries, until she is ready to deliver. An unexpected snow storm has Dr. Henry delivering his own child in his small office not too far from their home. She delivers a healthy child and the worry is lifted off of their shoulders. But, they weren't ready for what happened next. She unexpectedly delivered another child with Down Syndrome. Dr. Henry didn't know what he should do, so he decided to have his nurse, Caroline, take the baby girl to an institution. This decision that he made led their lives to destruction. Caroline took the baby, but didn't have the guts to leave it there in the institution, so she decided to raise it as her own. Caroline goes on to raise Phoebe, but she soon realizes that she can't let Phoebe go off on her own in fear of her getting hurt. Their lives were once normal, but later became twisted and turned through tough decisions, love, and grief. The Memory Keeper's Daughter travels back in time to 1964 into a young married couple's life, and a lonely nurse's life with them trying to get through tough times. Kim Edwards wrote this book with extraordinary passion and phenomenal detail. Each page flipped is packed with immense power and excellent beauty. Edwards shows her heart and sympathy through this book, and every detail describes the sympathy and passion she has for writing. The Memory Keeper's Daughter is a marvelous book, and I don't regret picking it up. As soon as I read the first page, I knew that this book was going to be great. I didn't want to put it down, and I would read this book again. This book brought me into the story as if I was there with it's mesmerizing details. I could picture everything that went on, and the book didn't slow down one bit. I would recommend The Memory Keeper's Daughter to people with a real love for passion, sympathy, and wisdom. People who like books filled with detail and compassion would really love this book.
    • 4/5
      excellent story
    • 5/5
      I had a nifty book review written for this one and my Internet cut out just as it was submitted (grumble...grumble...grumble), so since it is now almost 3am, I'll rewrite it tomorrow. In the meantime, this was a good book, and yes, I recommend it.
    • 4/5
      From the reviews I've read, you either love this book or you hate it. Personally, I felt this story of family tragedy was enthralling. For me, this was definately a page turner.
    • 2/5
      While I enjoyed the family dynamics painted here, the push and pull of love and secrets and trying to do the right thing and screwing up royally in the process, I didn't enjoy the way Phoebe's character had a tendency to simply be a plot point. Alone of the protagonists, she never gets to narrate--why is that?
    • 4/5
      Kentucky, 1960's, David, a bone doctor must deliver his twins in a snow storm in KY. Their son his healthy while their daughter has Downs Syndrone. Due to the Doctors childhood, David makes the decision to give the baby to the nurse to be placed in home. He then lies to his wife stating the baby girl was born dead. The story goes on to show the immediate and tragic impact this one decision has on many lives. While David thought he was saving his wife from a life of pain he has unknowingly created a nightmare in which his family will live for over 3 decades. Carolyn, his nurse can not leave the baby in the horrid mental home as instructed. She makes the decision to leave Ky and keep the baby girl.To keep this review simple, I don't know if you could be expecting twins and that not be known in 1964 but I could go with that. I do buy that a doctor could somehow hide whatever he wanted during that time. It's very believable that David's past haunted him and he just insured his future would too. David's decision at the end of the book was in line as well. I found the plot of one decision slowly causing a slow cancerous rot to eat at their lives was well developed and made for an enjoyable read.
    • 3/5
      Dear Ms. Edwards,I hope you are well. I have read your book, The Memory Keeper's Daughter, and this letter was written to tell you what I think about it. You probably don't have much time to reply to letters to you, even read them, but I just wanted to get this off my chest.I got a copy of your book because I was very intrigued by the premise of the plot: A young woman Norah, in the '60s, gave birth to twins with only her orthopedic surgeon husband, David, and Caroline, a nurse, to attend to her labor. The first child, a baby boy, was perfect and healthy; but the next child, a girl, was born with Down syndrome. David then made a hasty decision to ask Caroline to take the baby girl, Phoebe, to an institution. Caroline, however, decided to take care of Phoebe and disappeared. I liked what you wanted to do with the story, to show how one lie can insidiously destroy a family, the difficulties of having a child with Down syndrome in the 1960s, and a mother's pain in losing a child.I was very intrigued that going through several pages, I had a false sense of excitement for this book, not noticing that the story was sort of imbalanced. You kept telling us about how David or Norah or Caroline feels, but never showing us how. I wanted to cry with Norah and with David, but I just can't because it felt like you were just telling me to cry, instead of showing me a reason to cry. It felt imbalanced when you kept telling me about how Caroline had to fight a lot to help Phoebe get a normal life, instead of showing me what those fights were. I can see that you are a good story teller, but I hope that in other books, you can prove that you are also good with story imaging.As for the characters, I could not see much depth, except for Phoebe, which is probably because you decided that a girl with Down syndrome should be portrayed skillfully to become realistic - which shows that you do have talent for character creation, but you seem to become too engrossed with your storytelling than bother with the other characters. Somehow, it appears, that your sympathy for Phoebe's plight overshadowed your writing, that you felt you wanted to lash out on the other characters, especially David's family by making them appear unlikeable, stereotypical, and bland. There was no credibility in their characters, each of their actions and histories questionable: David's past should have made him more of a man instead of the coward you made him out to be; Norah's intentions when she agreed to marry David did not seem to be out of love, but more like she just married a man like him who could give her the stability she wanted. Paul, pining for how life would be like if his sister lived, felt like he's just reacting to whatever his parents did, not having his own personality.But in spite of those flaws, I did enjoy your book and even felt as trapped as David in keeping those lies. But to say that I loved all of it would be a lie: for me, the first and last parts are the only good ones. The premise of the plot was unique and remarkable, but the plot itself, not very much. And as I got closer to the end, it did not bother me that much.Please don't take this personally. I only wanted to comment on the story you wrote, and I hope this would help you in writing your next book. I look forward to another unique story from you, and when that time comes, I hope it will be way better than this one.Sincerely,Nina
    • 2/5
      A father's decision has repercussions for a family for decades. Although his decision is meant to be helpful, it turns malign and influences how two families live their lives. The basic "hook" is strong, and there are parts of this book that are utterly compelling. But it is repetitive, and could have used more editing in terms of streamlining. Also, some characters are more fully developed than others, and some of the most important characters are somewhat thin. The ending too is not especially satisfying.
    • 4/5
      Tragic story of a doctor that gives up his child at birth in order to (he believes) protect his wife from pain. She instead ends up with a different kind of pain and she does not really recover from the loss of her child. The two twins grow up separately, one with all the benefits of growing up in a upper middle class home, the other, a mentally handicapped child, by a single mother. Although the grow up separately, they both have a love for music.The characters are beautiful and the story is really engaging.
    • 4/5
      Synopsis: During a winter storm in 1964, Dr. David Henry delivers his twins - a healthy boy and a girl with Down Syndrome. Wanting to spare his wife the grief of possibly losing a daughter early, he hands baby Phoebe to his nurse, Caroline Gill. He gives her instructions to deliver Phoebe to a nearby institution - a common practice of the time. Caroline can not let herself leave the baby at the cold, smelly, and sterile institution, so she moves to Pittsburgh to raise the baby herself. David's secret begins to tear his family apart. His wife suffers from the loss of the baby she never got to meet. His son suffers from the wall David built around himself. David, still sure that he made the right decision, hides behind photography.So, coming into this book with strong feelings for the subject somewhat altered my view of the book. I really disliked David, even though I understand his motivation for what he did. I also feel like held a lot of the burden of his secret as "punishment." The prose of the book felt slow and repetitive to me. That became only a minor annoyance, as I overall enjoyed The Memory Keeper's Daughter.
    • 4/5
      The Memory Keeper's Daughter took me by surprised because I'm not rating it 4 stars for typical reasons. Readers are drawn to the characters because in one way or another, they can relate to situations or emotions that occur in this book.When I first started the book, I had I hard time with it because sometimes I would get so upset with some of the things the characters would do, but later I realized that this is what makes it such a good story. It got me emotionally envolved. Although fictional, the story did educate me and drove me to educate myself further on the topic of Down Syndrome. I also think the story is important because the underlying message is very basic, "The truth shall set you free". The story spands a family's lifetime and shows how a small lie or action taken with good intentions, can ultimately destroy you and those you love. For these reasons I highly recommend this book if you're interested in a book that is deeper and more emotionally driven with conflicted characters and questions that don't have easy answers.
    • 4/5
      This is a story of families carrying secrets and living with the consequences. The writing is beautifully crafted, the story compelling. You really want to know what happens to these people as the story unfolds over 25 years. It is unusual for me to want to take a sneak look ahead to find out what's going to happen next. Very good also on the unexpected turns that life takes, the main character in the end "troubled by the way he'd managed to miss his own life, absorbed as he'd been by his lenses and his grief."
    • 3/5
      An interesting story, but I had a hard time connecting with the characters and really couldn't get behind their actions. It was very sad how disabled children were treated during that time.
    • 3/5
      The summary of this novel made me immensely interested and I looked very much forward to read it. It took me a while to find time but I am glad to have now finally read it. I've seen a lot of negative criticism, particularly regarding the characters but I would actually like to give praise to Kim Edwards for creating such complex characters. The novel has a very complicated plot and with even more difficult characters. Because of this, I can imagine that for many it would be hard to empathize and sympathize all of their actions and feelings. For example, how easy is it exactly to empathize Dr Henry's life-changing decision of giving his sick daughter away in the beginning? Truth to be told, I was myself shocked at how someone, particularly such a loving doctor, could do so but as the story continued, we got a deeper insight into Dr Henry's personality and more importantly, his past. All the other characters were somehow the same yet different - they had their huge flaws and strengths, their emotions and thoughts and they were after all humans who had to undergo certain trauma of loss and neglect. One character that particularly touched me was Dr Henry's son, Paul, and the conflict he had with his father. Although I could not empathize, I could indeed sympathize and I think that this could be common for many of the readers to one or more characters. Other than the characters, I also really enjoyed Edwards' style. It wasn't the most exquisite and creative form that I had encountered but it was simple, easy to follow and nice. Sometimes it was confusing to keep track of the ages of the characters, despite the year given. However, one of the reasons why I gave this a four star and not five was because of the angst and dark mood of this novel. Indeed, there were light scenes. The love scenes were beautiful and the imagery was although not incredible descriptive, it was still good. However, there was always a brooding and sad tone. Sometimes it was not even sad but blank and neutral in a negative sense. I also wasn't too fond of the ending but that's because I like to leave a book, happy and satisfied. The ending was well but very bitter-sweet and I wish that one of the things that happened in the end did not happen. I'm not going to be explicit though because I don't want this review to contain spoilers. So overall, I enjoyed this book a great deal. I wouldn't recommend it for everyone as it is a rather dark and complex but if you like complicated characters with a controversial plot, then sure, why not. Give it a go.Good quotes"You missed a lot of heartache, sure. But David, you missed a lot of joy."
    • 2/5
      Good first novel but it was too long. It did have a good pace but everything seemed long winded and drawn out.
    • 4/5
      How sad to give your child up because of a disability. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book.
    • 3/5
      I liked The Memory Keeper's Daughter well enough, but of course I did not expect it to be an uplifting novel. However, I guess there was just not enough drama or well-developed characterization to fully commit me to the novel, as I found myself promptly forgetting the story after I finished it.
    • 4/5
      This is a book that I always intended to read but somehow never got around to it till now. And while there are almost 300 reviews of the book on Library Thing, I thought I would nevertheless add a few comments. I did enjoy the book and found it an easy entertaining read. While comparisons have been made to Jodi Picoult's "My Sister's Keeper", I think that Edwards is a far superior writer. While some aspects of the story are far-fetched, it is not the manipulative, leave your IQ in the other room, nonsense written by Ms Picoult. Down's syndrome babies were sometimes abandoned by their parents and placed in institutions during the 60's and earlier.
    • 4/5
      This was a compelling and beautifully told story, with lots of twists and discoveries. I enjoyed it very much.
    • 4/5
      A young doctor gives away one of his twins at birth when he realizes she is born with downs syndrome without telling his wife. The nurse charged to take the infant to a group home decides to raise the girl herself.