A doctor makes a split-second decision on a snowy night that shapes two families for decades
What it is about
In 1964, during a snowstorm in Kentucky, Dr. David Henry delivers his own twins. One of them has Down syndrome, and he hands the baby to a nurse and asks her to take the child to an institution. He tells his wife the baby died, and the secret slowly changes everyone it touches.
Who will enjoy it
Readers who like family sagas about secrets and their cost.
What you will get
A moving, easy-to-follow story that asks what people owe each other. It was a big book-club favorite.
The Memory Keeper's Daughter Facts: Pages, Genre and Setting
Genre
Literary Fiction · Secrets · Family · Choices
Length
400 pages · ≈ 11 h
More about this book
Characters
Dr. David Henry, his wife Norah and the nurse Caroline Gill.
Setting
Kentucky, from the 1960s to the 1980s.
What makes it different
One choice and its long consequences, told over years.
Feel
Quiet, sad and compassionate.
Everything I Never Told You
The God of Small Things
Tinkers
I Know This Much Is True
The Lovely Bones
Amongst Women
The Bonesetter’s Daughter
Please Look After Mom