By Kim Edwards (2005)
Books have a funny way of sitting quietly for a time only to be discovered on a lazy afternoon. That was how The Memory Keeper's Daughter came into my hands. I saw this book time after time at the library, only to pass it by in hopes of finding a more interesting book. However, on Sunday I happened upon the book in an attempt to entertain my self during lunch and was pleasantly surprised. Lunch turned into the afternoon, which turned into evening and spilled over into the next day. This is the mark of a good book, one that keeps you reading even when homework beckons.
You want to despise some characters right from the outset. The doctor giving away his child; the nurse who goes along with the plan, and the mother who doesn't want to fight for the truth; yet Edwards manages to give us compassion for her characters, making us see the side of them we don't want to understand, the side that makes us identify with them and makes us realize that we could be acting the same way in that situation.
She pulls the story from the viewpoints of several main characters, which adds to the complexity of the plot, twisting in and out of their lives through time. We are also somewhat disconnected from the story itself, as we jump in and out of time, each section of the book separated from the next by several years, with the whole story in itself taking up a quarter of a century. Edwards manages to use this time line and connection to her advantage, giving us enough information to keep us caring about their lives, but not bogging us down with unimportant details.
Rather than focusing on the depression that could have easily taken over the story, I found myself with a sense of hope flowing from under the sadness and regret that covered the surface. The story managed to hold me attentive and paced itself nicely, with no major lulls or speed through events. I also really appreciated that the story didn't get political, as it well could have (dealing with the topic of Down syndrome), but instead focused on the people within the story and their lives as a result their decisions. There was complexity present, but with enough simplicity that you didn't feel as if you needed to exert a lot of extra energy to keep up with what was going on.
I liked this book, I would even go as far to say that it is in the top five list of book that I have read this past year. It touched me emotionally, but didn't drag me down to the depths of despair. The book was light enough that I enjoyed the time spent reading it, making it worth my time, but not so light that I felt unsatisfied at the end.
If this book were a food, it would be fresh baked bread and a bowl of stew - hearty enough to fill you up and satisfy you without stuff yourself. I would recommend this book for a rainy weekend curled up on a chair with an afghan and a mug of tea.
