I don't read a lot of fiction, and the fiction I do read revolves around a handful of authors, but on occasion a book will grab my attention and I think to myself, gee why not? The Memory Keepers Daughter was one of those books.
It is an epic story that begins in Kentucky(this was what first got my attention). In the middle of a terrible Blizzard Dr. David Henry is forced to help deliver his own twins when his wife Norah goes into labor. The next three decades keep two families tied together with a secret that most of them aren't aware of. In it's conclusion, their son Paul is left with the undeniable truth. That happily ever after is a myth. That good people are flawed. That you can attempt to right wrongs but in the end all you can do is choose not to repeat them. It was a decision that, once made, could not be redeemed nor remedied. Time inexorably moves away from that moment but, instead of becoming distant, it grows tentacles that seize their beings and influence everything for the next three decades. We learn a photograph can capture a moment but it cannot tell you what encompasses it, what came before and after. It cannot effect change, it cannot correct. One moment, one choice, and an ever-widening circle of consequences, many roads taken and many not.
The writing in The Memory Keeper's Daughter is so well-articulated, the story itself is so engrossing and so different from any I have read before, that hard as I tried to remain disaffected, about 100 pages before the end I felt actual pain knowing there was a last page. As I came to know every nuance of these characters, I wanted to reach into the pages and tell them everything, something, anything, to stop time, to take a different road and change the past, then go on again. Honestly, I have never felt quite this way about a book before.
Kim Edwards takes us to the heart of several very complicated issues.It is written in painstaking detail and most likely not the best read for someone looking for a fast paced, dramatic novel. The sentiment in this book can be rather overwhelming at times.
Overall, I found The Memory Keepers Daughter a beautifully written story that slowly builds to create a powerful message of family and the ties that bind them.
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