Book Club Book Review: The Memory Keeper's Daughter By Kim Edwards

The Book Club book choice for the month of July was The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

This book is also a movie so this month's Book Club meet up was a movie night in with pizza, popcorn and bubbles and we talked about the book and then watched the movie, comparing them. As always I liked the book better, there were more characters and more feeling and description in the book.

This novel starts in the 1960s with a young married couple - who on a stormy snow filled night, the husband who is a Dr delivers his wife's twin babies. First, a healthy son and then a daughter with Down's Syndrome. The Dr gives his daughter away to the nurse to take to an institution and tells his wife that their daughter died at birth.

The nurse, unable to leave the baby at the institution ends up  raising her as her own child, who she names Pheobe.

The decision made by the Dr that night affects his family, the nurse and Pheobe for the rest of their lives. The story is told by chapters in years and shows how the Dr's decision shapes everyone's lives differently.

This is a really sad book, full of mourning, sorrow, regret and guilt. But the writing was good and it has an interesting storyline with different characters to keep me reading and engaged right until the very end. It shows how one action can affect the lives of so many and raises the topic of secrets - is it better to tell the truth or to lie.

I was disappointed that I didn't get to know Pheobe more as she was the character the book was based around. I was also shocked at how they treated Down's Syndrome back then and hope that we have come a long way since that time.

I recommend this book to those that like dramas, family stories, and don't mind a bit of a tear jerker.

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars

Jarrah Jungle's Star Rating:
1 Bad - I'd rather eat brussel sprouts topped with anchovies than read this again
2 Not Good - I'd rather watch re-runs of Neighbours than read this again
3 Ok - I'm sitting on the fence - its not great but not terrible either
4 Good - I'd pass up a pack of tim tams for this read
5 Great - I'd pass up a date with Johnny Depp for this read

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[Image via Dymocks]