The Memory Keeper's Daughter: A Novel

Kim Edwards

Penguin,  May 2006

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's 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. Compulsively readable and deeply moving, The Memory Keeper's Daughter is a brilliantly crafted story of parallel lives, familial secrets, and the redemptive power of love.

paperback | ISBN: 9780143037149 | Publication Date: May 2006

Reviews:
"[An] extraordinary debut."
--Chicago Tribune

"Kim Edwards has written a novel so mesmerizing that I devoured it in a single gulp, reading far into the wee hours. Her characters will hold you spellbound as you watch a marriage founded on the sweetest of intimacies destroyed by unexamined concepts of conventional wisdom, by lies and by secrecy. From the ashes grow new lives strong enough to defy convention and to define family simply as supportive love. Terror, pity, redemption -- what reader can ask for more? This beautifully written novel has it all." 
--Sena Jeter Naslund

"In The Memory Keeper's Daughter, Kim Edwards has created a tale of regret and redemption, of honest emotion, of characters haunted by their past. Crafted with language so lovely you have to reread the passages just to be captivated all over again . . . this is simply a beautiful book -- I can't wait to see what she writes next." 
--Jodi Picoult

"First-time novelist Edwards . . . has written a heart-wrenching book, by turns light and dark, literary and suspenseful. A natural for book discussions groups; recommended." 
--Library Journal

"The Memory Keeper's Daughter unfolds from an absolutely mesmerizing premise, drawing you deeply and irrevocably into the entangled lives of two families and the devastating secret that shapes them both. I loved this riveting story with its intricate characters and beautiful language."
--Sue Monk Kidd, author of The Secret Life of Bees and The Mermaid Chair

"An auspicious debut novel . . . The Memory Keeper's Daughter is a page-turner, a wonderfully crafted tale . . . Highly recommended."
--Bookreporter.com 

"The Memory Keeper's Daughter is a gift, filled with radiant mystery. Kim Edwards writes with great wisdom and compassion about family, choices, secrets, and redemption. This is a wonderful, heartbreaking, heart-healing novel."
--Luanne Rice

"[A] tightly woven tale of love, loss and redemption."
--Orlando Sentinel

"A gripping novel, beautifully written. With amazing compassion, Kim Edwards explores the impact of a family secret that challenges the limits of love and redemption."
--Ursula Hegi

"This unusual novel is exciting, probing, dashing, and filled with surprises. The writing is memorable and smart. A keeper!"
--Bobbie Ann Mason

"Anyone would be struck by the extraordinary power and sympathy of The Memory Keeper's Daughter."
--The Washington Post

"Edwards is a born novelist . . . The Memory Keeper's Daughter is rich with psychological detail and the nuances of human connection."
--Chicago Tribune