10 February 2009

The Memory Keeper's Daughter - fiction

It has been said that the average millionaire reads 1 non-fiction book every month. I'm not sure I have that kind of time. (Evidenced by the fact that I am still NOT a millionaire...) It has, in fact, taken me nearly 3 months to read the one non-fiction book that I started out to do a book review on. In that time, I have decided that I would like to do four book reviews a month. This is the first. The other three will include a children's book (for those who still read them), a young adult book (because I still read them - they seem to be nearly without smut...), and a non-fiction book (which will, probably be the last in the monthly series).

It took me two weeks to read The Memory Keeper's Daughter. Not that it wasn't a good book, it just wasn't as riveting as I thought it might be when I first picked it up. This book was written for adults (no, there aren't any steamy scenes in it) and is based on the story of two families who are linked by one girl.

It starts on a snowy night with the birth of twins. One, a perfect little boy. The other, a little girl with Down Syndrome. This is the story of her parents. Her birth parents, and the Mother who found herself with a baby that the father didn't want. What I found interesting about this particular situation is that the father was the doctor who delivered the twins, and the birth mother was told that the little girl had died. Through a series of events, the father was rendered unable to fix his lie. This is the story of how that lie eventually destroyed their marriage.

It is also the story of how a little girl was fought for. How she succeeded in life despite her challenges and difficulties. It is also the story of a nurse who found herself with a difficult decision to make and who chose one that, in my opinion, was the right one. A mother who found love - eventually, and learned to forgive the mistake that she had not had the choice to decline.

In the end, it is the story of a family who is re-united, though not in the way that I expected, and, probably, not to the satisfaction of many who will read this book.

I found this to be a well writen book - somewhat slow in parts, but a good read none-the-less. While I would not give this above an 8 (that would mean that I HAVE to have it on my bookshelf for additional reading again and again), I would score it as a 7.9. It was good enough to finish and I would recommend it to people.

If you are so inclined to read this book, you can find it at your local library. The Memory Keeper's Daughter, by Kim Edwards.

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