Book: The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
Genre: Literary Fiction
Rating: B+
Third book of the year finished for the TBR Challenge! I'm just barely hanging on at one book a month for that one.
So, I liked this book okay. If you're an American Idol fan, can you hear Randy saying, "It was awright for me, it was just awright." That's about how I felt.
The story is about a couple whose twins are born in the very first chapter. The baby boy is born healthy, but the daughter has Downs Syndrome. The dad, who is also a doctor, is delivering the twins late at night in his office with only one nurse to help. When he realizes there's a "problem" with his daughter, he tells the nurse to take her away to an institution and then he tells his wife that the baby girl died. The rest of the story is how everyone involved is affected by this split second decision.
My problem was I never really felt much sympathy for either the dad OR the mom. They seemed whiney and pathetic and way too "woe is me." Yes, the whole thing is sad, but still. I did enjoy the parts about the two kids and how life ended up for them. The writing was quite good, though a little sappy at times.
Anyway, it was "awright" for me.
I'm with you - I didn't hate this book but it was so hyped and it just didn't do much for me. Can't wait to read more and hope to visit your blog often!
ReplyDeleteI'm probably the only person who hasn't read this book! I'll get to it eventually, but I'm not chomping at the bit right now.
ReplyDeleteI like the Randy Jackson reference! I have read many books that would elicit that same response.
ReplyDeleteI had pretty much the exact same reaction when I read this book last year. Just decent, and I had NO feeling for any of the characters.
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