The Memory Keeper's Daughter

infobox Book |
name = The Memory Keeper's Daughter
title_orig =
translator =


author = Kim Edwards
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Novel
publisher = Viking Press (2005)
Penguin Books Doubleday Dell Publishing Group
release_date = 2005
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 401 p. (paperback edition)
isbn = ISBN 0-14-303714-5 (paperback edition)
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"The Memory Keeper's Daughter" is a novel by American author Kim Edwards that tells the story of a man who abandons his Down syndrome baby. Published by Viking Press in June 2005, the novel garnered great interest via word of mouth in the summer of 2006 and placed on the New York Times Paperback Bestsellers List. [ As of November 26, 2006, the book had spent 21 weeks on the New York Times Paperback Bestsellers list. " [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/books/bestseller/1126bestpaperfiction.html New York Times Paperback Fiction Bestsellers] " "nytimes.com". URL Accessed November 28, 2006] The novel was adapted to telemovie and broadcast on Lifetime Television in April 2008. The DVD release is anticipated for October 2008.

Plot

March 1964

In 1964, during an unusual Kentucky blizzard, Dr. David Henry is forced to deliver his wife's fraternal twins. Baby Paul is born a perfect little boy, but soon Phoebe is born. Immediately, David notices she is a mongoloid (a name given at the time for people with Down syndrome). David, knowing how it destroyed his mother's life when his sister, June, (who had heart disease) died of a hole in her heart, decides that Phoebe will be placed in an institution. Caroline, a nurse who has been in love with David since meeting him, is given the task of carrying the infant to the institution but, after assessing the wretched conditions of the place, decides to keep and raise the baby herself. While Caroline is at the store buying baby supplies, her car's battery dies and she is stranded in the swirling snow with the baby. She is picked up by a truck driver, Al. Meanwhile, David's kind but passive wife Norah is plagued by post-natal depression after Dr. Henry lies to her and tells her Phoebe died at birth.

1965

David and Norah find it difficult to connect. Norah wants another child but David says no. David thinks a lot about his childhood, the struggles with poverty, the death of June and his parents. Norah is drinking too much but stops after crashing her car. Norah buys David a camera which becomes an obsession for him. Paul is fine apart from an incident that shows, like his father, he is allergic to bees.

Caroline is in Pittsburgh and is hired by a lady called Doro to work as a private nurse for her father, an elderly physicist called Leo March. Caroline and Phoebe live with Doro and Leo. Caroline claims that Phoebe is her baby and she ran away from Phoebe's father as he wanted to put Phoebe in an institution. Caroline sends letters and pictures of Phoebe to David. David sends money to Caroline through a PO Box address. David makes a half-hearted attempt to find out where Caroline and Phoebe live. Al discovers their whereabouts and begins visiting regularly. Caroline befriends another lady, called Sandra, who has a four-year-old son called Tim who also has Down Syndrome.

1970

Unlike the prediction David made at birth, Phoebe is very healthy and is coming along fine. Caroline and a group of other women are petitioning to let their children go to school. Phoebe also turns out to be allergic to bees. Al helps get Phoebe to hospital and Caroline realises that he really does love Phoebe. Caroline and Al get engaged. Leo has passed away, but Doro asks Caroline to stay.

Paul has started school and is doing well, except for an accident where he breaks his arm. David now is an aspiring photographer with his own dark room, where he keeps Phoebe's pictures and Caroline's letters hidden. David and Norah drift further apart. Norah gets a job with a travel agent.

1977

Caroline and Al are married. Phoebe is learning how to weave. Phoebe gets a cat called Rain. David asks Caroline to let him meet Phoebe and to let Phoebe know her brother Paul. Caroline decides not to contact David again.

Norah is excelling at the travel agency. While on vacation, in Aruba, she has an affair. Both David and Paul realise what she has done but neither of them talk about it. David blames the affair on himself. Paul is becoming an accomplished musician. David and Paul have different views on what Paul should do when he's older. David spends more and more time with his camera and darkroom.

1982

Phoebe and Paul are now both 18.

David has an arts show in Pittsburgh. Caroline turns up and shows him pictures of Phoebe. He has to stop the conversation briefly to answer an art critic. When he's speaking to the critic Caroline leaves. David is devastated and goes to his parents abandoned house, where he finds Rosemary, a pregnant 16 year old, who is squatting in the house. He tells Rosemary his secret. He asks her to come and live with him. Paul and Norah can't believe the way he's behaving. Paul runs away for a couple of days. Paul has been accepted at Julliard.

1988

Rosemary and her son Jack move back to live with her family. Norah and David are now divorced and Norah is dating. Paul is traveling and studying music in France. David dies of an aneurysm. When Norah sorts through David's photographs she understands David in a way she never did when he was alive.

Phoebe is in love with Robert, also a Down syndrome person, and wants to get married and live in a group home with more independence. Caroline worries about the future and is scared about letting Phoebe live her own life. When Caroline hears of David's death she goes and finds Norah and tells her the truth. Norah and Paul meet Phoebe for the first time. Phoebe and Paul both attend their mother's wedding. Paul takes Phoebe to their father's grave.

Telemovie

A made-for-television movie premiered on Lifetime Television April 12 2008. The film's cast includes Dermot Mulroney as David, Gretchen Mol as Norah, and Emily Watson as Caroline. The adolescent and adult Phoebe is played by Krystal Hope Nausbaum, an actress with Down syndrome. [cite news
url=http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2008/04/12/secrets_and_sympathy_make_for_a_compelling_daughter/
title="Secrets and sympathy make for a compelling 'Daughter'"
work=The Boston Globe
author= Matthew Gilbert
date=April 12, 2008
accessdate=2008-04-13] The movie dispenses with characters Doro and her father Leo as well as Rosemary and her son Jack. The movie was watched by 5,822,000 million viewers and received a 4.0 rating. The movie was also the most watched show on cable for the week of April 7-April 13 2008. The film's DVD release is scheduled for October 2008.

Footnotes

References

* [http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780143037149,00.html The Memory Keeper's Daughter]
* [http://us.penguingroup.com/static/html/podcast/clips/9780143037149.mp3 The Memory Keeper's Daughter Podcast]
* [http://us.penguingroup.com/static/rguides/us/memory_keeper.html The Memory Keeper's Daughter Reading Guide]
* [http://www.amazon.com/Memory-Keepers-Daughter-Dub-Sub/dp/B001D7T6AY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1218140075&sr=8-1 Buy The Memory Keeper's Daughter DVD in Amazon]