About the Author Kim Edwards, born in 1958, grew up in New York. She had three younger siblings. She attended Colgate University and the University of Iowa. She received an MFA in Fiction and an MA in Linguistics (Study of language). Following college, she moved with her husband to Asia and they spent the next five years teaching in Malaysia, Japan, and Cambodia. During this time, she wrote a short fiction story, and in 1990 the story "Sky Juice" won the Nelson Algren Award. Her stories have appeared in mny places and have won many honors. The Memory Keeper's Daughter was Kim Edward's first novel, completed in 2006, and it quickly earned a spot on the New York Time's Bestseller list. She also wrote the short story series "The Secrets of a Fire King". Kim Edwards currently teaches writing at the University of Kentucky. Read more about Kim Edwards
Kim Edwards, author of The Memory Keeper's Daughter
Plot Synopsis
Norah and David Henry were living in a fairytale. On the night of a blizzard in 1964, Norah went into labor and Dr. David Henry had to deliver the baby himself at his small clinic. Alone with his wife and the nurse of the clinic Caroline Gill, David delivered a perfect baby boy named Paul. He knew something was wrong the minute he noticed his wife going into labor again. He delivered the other child, a baby girl. Named Phoebe. With down syndrome.
Thinking quick, David knew that this little child would impact his and Norah's perfect life. David's sister had died at a young age from down syndrome and David didn't want to put that on Norah. Doing what he believed to be best, he asked Caroline Gill to take his newborn daughter to a clinic for impaired children. Once she left, Norah came back to and David informed her that Paul was healthy and doing well, but their daughter had died.
Meanwhile, Caroline Gill didn't leave the baby at the clinic. Rather, she kept the child and moved away (to David's knowledge) and started a life of her own.
This story is about how the loss of a child can tear a family apart, and yet bring another family together. Norah struggles with the thought of her lost daughter, David struggles with the secret that he gave their daughter away, and Caroline struggles with the guilt of raising a child that doesn't belong to her. This twisted story plays with love and heartbreak; and is sure to keep you interested in the 30 years of Paul's and Phoebe's life. Literary Information
The Memory Keeper's Daughter is 401 pages long.
Genre: Drama
Style: Kim Edwards uses a neutral diction, because the book consists of fairly ordinary language. She uses a mix between compound and complex syntax, for her sentences vary in length and structure, but these two are the most common.
Mood: The mood of this story varies. When the story is focused on the Henry family, the mood is more gloomy and morose because they're mourning over the loss of their daughter. On the other hand, when the story is focused on Caroline and Phoebe, the mood is very cheerful and hopeful. The Memory Keeper's Daughter is told in the omniscient third person point of view. The narrator isn't a character, but they know the thoughts and feelings of every character, and they know everything that is going on.Literary Analysis (Contains Spoilers)
The Memory Keeper's Daughterby Kim Edwards reveals that one's loss is another's gain.
In the story, the Henry's fall apart due to the lie that David made following Phoebe's birth. In the long run, this lie causes many things to happen to the Henrys. Paul turns to drugs because he doesn't get enough attention from Norah (and when he does get attention, it's her being overprotective) because she's still mourning over the fact that she lost her only daughter (208-209). Also, Norah has an affair because she's lost trust in David and due to that she lost the connection she had with him and the passion she had for him (186). All these occurred because of David's decision to have Phoebe sent to a clinic, which in fact turned out to be quite ironic because Phoebe lived a longer life than expected, and if she had stayed with the Henry's she would have only brought joy to them like she did to Caroline and Al. However, when you look at the history of David's sister dying of Down Syndrome at a very young age you start to feel slightly more empathetic on David's decision. The loss of Phoebe clearly impacted the Henrys in a very negative manner.
Though the loss of Phoebe tore apart the Henrys, it pulled together Caroline and Al. For starters, Caroline met Al due to Phoebe. After she decided not to bring Phoebe to the clinic, Caroline went to the grocery store to get necessities for caring for an infant. While shopping, her car battery died in the midst of a blizzard. Al, a long distance trucker taking a break at the parking lot, allowed for her to keep Phoebe and herself in his truck for the heat. There, Al and Caroline became acquaintances (158). It was then that Caroline invited Al to spend the night on her sofa bed and they later became even closer. When Caroline ran away with Phoebe, Al tracked her down and would visit her in between his travels. Al used Phoebe as somewhat of an excuse to keep visiting Caroline so often. Later in the story, Al and Caroline got married, all thanks to Pheobe (169). Criticism I really liked this book. I liked the way that Kim Edwards showed that there's ups and downs to everything that happens. By saying this I mean that though the Henry's suffered for the loss of Phoebe and it eventually pulled their family apart, Phoebe made a large impact on Caroline's life by creating a family. (SPOILER) If Caroline hadn't had Phoebe, she would have never met her future husband Al. I plan to read this book again in the future because it is full of many lessons and it also illustrates how important decisions are and how it can affect your life. I give this book a 9 out of 10 stars because it was very well written and it was exciting to read. Though I really enjoyed this book, I felt that sometimes it was hard to follow because in my mind I didn't match up the two stories. I mean that, though the Henrys and Caroline had overlapping decades, it didn't process in my mind like that and as a result I was slightly confused on how the events happening in Caroline's life would match up with the events in the Henry's life. This confusion was sorted out by the end of the book but I wouldn't have minded if it had been avoided altogether.
Movie
This book has also been turned into a Lifetime Movie. (The trailer is below). I really liked the movie and it interested me the omissions that they made and the edits they made. For example, at the beginning of the movie when Caroline was to bring baby Phoebe to the clinic, in the book it just has her meeting a few nurses giving a dissatisfied girl a hair cut. But the Hollywood version is much more dramatic than that, rather than a measly haircut, they have a nurse strapping a man into his bed because he is a little wrong in the mind. This really emphasizes the feeling Caroline had however that leaving this innocent baby at the clinic was wrong, which is a part that's very crucial to the story.
If You Liked this Book...
Check out the following wiki pages!
Keeper's DaughterKim Edwards
Wiki page by Ashley Klein
About the Author
Kim Edwards, born in 1958, grew up in New York. She had three younger siblings. She attended Colgate University and the University of Iowa. She received an MFA in Fiction and an MA in Linguistics (Study of language). Following college, she moved with her husband to Asia and they spent the next five years teaching in Malaysia, Japan, and Cambodia. During this time, she wrote a short fiction story, and in 1990 the story "Sky Juice" won the Nelson Algren Award. Her stories have appeared in mny places and have won many honors.
The Memory Keeper's Daughter was Kim Edward's first novel, completed in 2006, and it quickly earned a spot on the New York Time's Bestseller list. She also wrote the short story series "The Secrets of a Fire King". Kim Edwards currently teaches writing at the University of Kentucky. Read more about Kim Edwards
Plot Synopsis
Norah and David Henry were living in a fairytale. On the night of a blizzard in 1964, Norah went into labor and Dr. David Henry had to deliver the baby himself at his small clinic. Alone with his wife and the nurse of the clinic Caroline Gill, David delivered a perfect baby boy named Paul. He knew something was wrong the minute he noticed his wife going into labor again. He delivered the other child, a baby girl. Named Phoebe. With down syndrome.
Thinking quick, David knew that this little child would impact his and Norah's perfect life. David's sister had died at a young age from down syndrome and David didn't want to put that on Norah. Doing what he believed to be best, he asked Caroline Gill to take his newborn daughter to a clinic for impaired children. Once she left, Norah came back to and David informed her that Paul was healthy and doing well, but their daughter had died.
Meanwhile, Caroline Gill didn't leave the baby at the clinic. Rather, she kept the child and moved away (to David's knowledge) and started a life of her own.
This story is about how the loss of a child can tear a family apart, and yet bring another family together. Norah struggles with the thought of her lost daughter, David struggles with the secret that he gave their daughter away, and Caroline struggles with the guilt of raising a child that doesn't belong to her. This twisted story plays with love and heartbreak; and is sure to keep you interested in the 30 years of Paul's and Phoebe's life.
Literary Information
The Memory Keeper's Daughter is 401 pages long.
Genre: Drama
Style: Kim Edwards uses a neutral diction, because the book consists of fairly ordinary language. She uses a mix between compound and complex syntax, for her sentences vary in length and structure, but these two are the most common.
Mood: The mood of this story varies. When the story is focused on the Henry family, the mood is more gloomy and morose because they're mourning over the loss of their daughter. On the other hand, when the story is focused on Caroline and Phoebe, the mood is very cheerful and hopeful.
The Memory Keeper's Daughter is told in the omniscient third person point of view. The narrator isn't a character, but they know the thoughts and feelings of every character, and they know everything that is going on. Literary Analysis (Contains Spoilers)
The Memory Keeper's Daughterby Kim Edwards reveals that one's loss is another's gain.
In the story, the Henry's fall apart due to the lie that David made following Phoebe's birth. In the long run, this lie causes many things to happen to the Henrys. Paul turns to drugs because he doesn't get enough attention from Norah (and when he does get attention, it's her being overprotective) because she's still mourning over the fact that she lost her only daughter (208-209). Also, Norah has an affair because she's lost trust in David and due to that she lost the connection she had with him and the passion she had for him (186). All these occurred because of David's decision to have Phoebe sent to a clinic, which in fact turned out to be quite ironic because Phoebe lived a longer life than expected, and if she had stayed with the Henry's she would have only brought joy to them like she did to Caroline and Al. However, when you look at the history of David's sister dying of Down Syndrome at a very young age you start to feel slightly more empathetic on David's decision. The loss of Phoebe clearly impacted the Henrys in a very negative manner.
Though the loss of Phoebe tore apart the Henrys, it pulled together Caroline and Al. For starters, Caroline met Al due to Phoebe. After she decided not to bring Phoebe to the clinic, Caroline went to the grocery store to get necessities for caring for an infant. While shopping, her car battery died in the midst of a blizzard. Al, a long distance trucker taking a break at the parking lot, allowed for her to keep Phoebe and herself in his truck for the heat. There, Al and Caroline became acquaintances (158). It was then that Caroline invited Al to spend the night on her sofa bed and they later became even closer. When Caroline ran away with Phoebe, Al tracked her down and would visit her in between his travels. Al used Phoebe as somewhat of an excuse to keep visiting Caroline so often. Later in the story, Al and Caroline got married, all thanks to Pheobe (169).
Criticism
I really liked this book. I liked the way that Kim Edwards showed that there's ups and downs to everything that happens. By saying this I mean that though the Henry's suffered for the loss of Phoebe and it eventually pulled their family apart, Phoebe made a large impact on Caroline's life by creating a family. (SPOILER) If Caroline hadn't had Phoebe, she would have never met her future husband Al. I plan to read this book again in the future because it is full of many lessons and it also illustrates how important decisions are and how it can affect your life. I give this book a 9 out of 10 stars because it was very well written and it was exciting to read.
Movie
This book has also been turned into a Lifetime Movie. (The trailer is below). I really liked the movie and it interested me the omissions that they made and the edits they made. For example, at the beginning of the movie when Caroline was to bring baby Phoebe to the clinic, in the book it just has her meeting a few nurses giving a dissatisfied girl a hair cut. But the Hollywood version is much more dramatic than that, rather than a measly haircut, they have a nurse strapping a man into his bed because he is a little wrong in the mind. This really emphasizes the feeling Caroline had however that leaving this innocent baby at the clinic was wrong, which is a part that's very crucial to the story.
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