Book Review--The Memory Keeper's Daughter, by Kim Edwards

This is an amazing book. In 1964 Dr. David Henry has to deliver his twins himself due to a freak snowstorm in Lexington, Kentucky. His son is healthy, but he realizes right away that his daughter has Down Syndrome. He hands his daughter over to his nurse and tells her to take the baby girl to a nearby institution. Instead, the nurse, Caroline, takes the baby away and raises her as her own in another city.

It sounds from this like David is a monster or that he just can't be bothered with raising a child with disabilities. But I think maybe he had just already known too much pain. He had lost his sister when she was only twelve due to heart problems, and it had just about destroyed his mother. They'd had a difficult life anyway due to poverty. He was worried that the baby would have heart problems, as people with Down Syndrome sometimes do, and apparently was worried that Norah, his wife, would be destroyed in the same way his mother had been when his sister died. In 1964 people didn't know as much about Down Syndrome as they do today

Still, obviously, he didn't do the right thing. He had to tell Norah something about the other baby, and he told her that she died. Norah and he both grieved the loss of their daughter and were never the same afterwards. The secret was destructive to both of them and their son.

The story alternates between their story and the story of Caroline and Phoebe, the daughter. Phoebe turned five a few years before Public Law 94-142, the law that guaranteed an education to every child. So Caroline had to fight to get the public schools to allow Phoebe to go to school there. She sent David pictures from PO boxes in different cities, but she was afraid that David might eventually try to take Phoebe away from her, so she wouldn't let him know where they lived.

This book really illustrates the destructive power that secrets can wield. Also interesting to me was how far we've come in our understanding of disabilities. This is not to say that there aren't plenty of small-minded and cruel people out there, unfortunately, but now most people wouldn't think that a baby with Downs should be sent to an institution. Caroline wouldn't have to fight to get the public schools to accept her child.

Another theme is the role of women--David was incredibly paternalistic in deciding--without consulting his wife--that their baby should be sent to an institution. In the course of the story, Norah evolves from the stay-at-home wife and mother who defers to David on everything to an independent and accomplished career woman.

This book has many layers to it. It is a family drama and a page-turner--you keep wondering if and when Norah and Paul, the son, will find out that Phoebe didn't really die. I look forward to reading more by Kim Edwards.