The Memory Keeper's Daughter
By Kim Edwards
From Australia: “Books with great plots can transport you to different times and places; I found this recently reading The Memory Keeper’s Daughter…a haunting tale of love, loss and secrets that stretch a lifetime. I had to read it all at once, staying up into the early hours to find out what happens…”
—Grace Sanderson in The Sunday Age
“[It’s] the kind of book you all love because it means that not only is word of mouth happening, but you know that something mysterious about this book is really seeping into people’s hearts and minds,” said Susan Petersen Kennedy, president of Penguin Group USA. . .With the ethical dilemma and family drama at its heart, “The Memory Keeper’s Daughter” is appealing to readers who want a literary page turner and something to discuss in their reading groups. Martha MacDonald, 63, a retired physical therapist in Winchester, Mass., said she read the novel for her condominium association’s book group.“Usually it takes me a week or two to read a book,” she said. “I read this one in two days. I couldn’t put it down. It raised a lot of issues about how you would have reacted in the same situation. I think it’s an incredible discussion book.”
—The New York Times
From Australia: “(Edwards's).message of tolerance for people with Down syndrome is as dignified and moving as a sermon.”
—The Courier Mail
“THE MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER unfolds from an absolutely mesmerizing premise, drawing you deeply and irrevocably into the entangled lives of two families and the devastating secret that shapes them both. I loved this riveting story with its intricate characters and beautiful language.”
—Sue Monk Kidd
“[A] tightly woven tale of love, loss and redemption.”
—The Orlando Sentinel
“In THE MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER, Kim Edwards has created a tale of regret and redemption, of honest emotion, of characters haunted by their past. Crafted with language so lovely you have to reread the passages just to be captivated all over again…this is simply a beautiful book—I can’t wait to see what she writes next.”
—Jodi Picoult
From Australia: “The Memory Keeper's Daughter is moving, uncompromising and steadfastly unsentimental.”
—The Canberra Times
“This tragedy of a man who thinks he can control how lives are redirected is as moving as the story of his nurse, who knows that her love can bless a damaged life…Anyone would be struck by the extraordinary power and sympathy of THE MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER.
—The Washington Post
“A gripping novel, beautifully written. With amazing compassion, Kim Edwards explores the impact of a family secret that challenges the limits of love and redemption.”
—Ursula Hegi
From Australia: “The Memory Keeper's Daughter is profoundly satisfying; a provocative meditation on what it is means to be human and the generational consequences of people's choices...it lingers long in one's mind and spirit.”
—Lily Bragge in The Sunday Age
“Edwards, the author of a short-story collection and the winner of a Nelson Algren Award, is a born novelist. From the riveting depiction of the twins’ birth, which opens the book, she sustains suspense through 400 pages of compelling prose, consistent characterization and a plot that is poignant without being preachy or sticky-sweet. THE MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER is a paean to such persistence and power, rich with psychological detail and the nuances of human connection.”
—The Chicago Tribune
“THE MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER is a little bit Anne Tyler, a smidgen of Russell Banks and a bit of Ann Beattie, topped off with a dash of Bobbie Ann Mason. In other words, it’s all Kim Edwards, and it’s just about perfect.”
—The Lexington Herald Leader
From Australia: “(Edwards's debut)...had the critics drawing comparisons with Jodi Picoult and Alice Sebald.”
—Vogue Australia (Critics Choice - Books of the Year)
"The Memory Keeper's Daughter," the story of a child born with Down syndrome and the web of family secrets and lies that follows, has become a literary phenomenon and the surprise summer reading hit.
—The Courier-Journal
“Poetic and illuminating.”
—The Kentucky Monthly
From Australia: “Deeply moving, this is the 'must read' novel for 2006.”
—Notebook Magazine
“[A] masterfully written debut novel…a compelling story that explores universal themes: the secrets we harbor, even from those we love; our ability to rationalize all manner of lies; and our fear that there will always be something unknowable about the people we love most.”
—The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“The Memory Keeper’s Daughter is a gift, filled with radiant mystery. Kim Edwards writes with great wisdom and compassion about family, choices, secrets, and redemption. This is a wonderful, heartbreaking, heart-healing, novel.”
—Luanne Rice
Edwards takes on many themes in this novel, including the burden of secrets, the loneliness of a disintegrating marriage, the heartache and triumph of raising children—and, most pointedly, the need for developmentally disabled children to feel accepted by society. The Memory Keeper's Daughter reveals the strength of family bonds under unique and difficult circumstances.
—BookPage
“Kim Edwards has written a novel so mesmerizing that I devoured it in a single gulp, reading far into the wee hours. Her characters will hold you spellbound as you watch a marriage founded on the sweetest of intimacies destroyed by unexamined concepts of conventional wisdom, by lies and by secrecy. From the ashes grown new lives strong enough to defy convention and to define family simply as supportive love. Terror, pity, redemption—what reader can ask for more? This beautifully written novel has it all.”
—Sena Jeter Naslund
“An auspicious debut novel…THE MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER is a page-turner, a wonderfully crafted tale…Highly recommended.”
—Bookreporter.com
“This unusual novel is exciting, probing, dashing, and filled with surprises. The writing is memorable and smart. A keeper!”
—Bobbie Ann Mason
“A heart-wrenching book, by turns light and dark, literary and suspenseful.”
—Library Journal, starred review