Book Review - The Memory Keeper's Daughter

It's time for another book review! And this is review of a (dramatic pause)... NOVEL! Yes, it's true, I finally read a novel! This book actually made the transition quite easy. Usually (or at least lately) when I pick up a novel, I become bored by the end of the second chapter and I just can't force myself to continue past the plot exposition. With Kim Edwards' The Memory Keeper's Daughter, however, I found that I could slip easily into the story. In fact, I found the novel quite absorbing, and read it--quite literally--straight through without putting it down. (Yes, I did have WAY too much free time on my hands. It's summer. Gimme a break.)

The Memory Keeper's Daughter tells the stories of the members of an American family. The family starts the way a "normal" American family does--David and Norah Henry are completely in love, and they both follow their roles with exactness. David is a doctor, Norah is a dutiful 1960s wife, and both are wonderfully excited for the birth of their first child. However, when Norah delivers twins--a healthy, normal little boy and a little girl who has Down Syndrome--things change. Devastated and scared, David makes a split-second decision to hide the truth about his daughter. He whisks her away and places her in the care of a nurse, simultaneously telling his wife that their daughter was stillborn. Thus, in a single moment, a family is broken apart, and the beginnings of a complex web of secrets and lies are formed. David and Norah's daughter, Phoebe, is raised by the nurse, Caroline, while their son, Paul, grows up at home, in the shadow of a complicated and problematic marriage.

I can happily say that I enjoyed reading this book. Kim Edwards' narrative voice is both comfortable and poetic. (BONUS!) The book is written in episodic format, and follows the members of the Henry family through the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Edwards quite successfully switches her narrative point of view between Henry, Norah, Caroline and Paul, thus allowing well-rounded character development. The character development is the strong point of the novel, in my opinion. The most beautiful moments in the novel are the moments in which the characters think to themselves and the real issues of the story are brought out, at times with gorgeous imagery and voice, without overuse of the dramatic plot structure.

The storyline was generally good, but faded to so-so in many parts. While the complexity of David's decision to give up his daughter and lie to his wife and son--and to everyone else--is intriguing, the drama that happens within the Henry household seems to be pretty soap opera-ish. Unimaginative love affairs, a painfully typical angst-y teenage son, and the husband/father-who-looks-so-successful-but-is-just-never-there all combine to create the appearance of a cookie-cutter family drama. However, the parts of the plot that involve Phoebe and her adoptive mother, Caroline, are very original and engaging.

Overall, I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars. Some of those points come from the simple fact that I was able to stay interested through the whole book. Like I said, after a couple of years of reading non-fiction (behavioral economics, psychology, sociology, gender issues, other nerdy stuff, etc.) almost exclusively, novels have left me wanting as of late. This makes me very sad, as my nerdy, bookish self really loves a good novel. The Memory Keeper's Daughter, however, was a nice intro back into the world of fiction. Hopefully I'll come across some more good novels in the near future.