Hello. I'm Catherine Weller and this is The Open Book.

This week's book is The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards.

It is march 1964 in Lexington, Kentucky. A freak snowstorm has hit the city and Dr. David Henry's wife is in labor. Certain they won't be able to navigate the icy roads to the hospital, Dr. Henry arranges to meet his nurse and the obstetrician at his clinic. On his way there, the obstetrician wrecks his car. So Dr. Henry, orthopedic surgeon, draws upon his early med school training and delivers his first son with the aid of his nurse. Then he delivers his daughter, an unexpected twin. Both doctor and nurse immediately note her upturned eyes and flattened nose. The baby has Downs Syndrome. Remember: it is 1964. Back then it was commonly thought that downs children lived unhappy, short and sickly lives. All too often Downs children were institutionalized until they died.

Dr. Henry decided to do just that. While his wife was still anesthetized and unconscious, he instructed his nurse take his infant daughter to a nearby institution. He told his nurse and himself that he was protecting his wife, Norah, from heart break. When Norah came to, he told her there was a stillborn twin. In a split second he made a decision that changed his and his wife's lives in ways both possible and impossible to predict. When his nurse, Caroline, reached the bleak institution with baby Phoebe, she likewise made a decision that forever changed her and Phoebe's lives. She kept the baby.

Memory Keepers Daughter is told from four different points of view. Dr. David Henry's, Norah's, Caroline's, and that of Paul - David and Norah's son. Their stories, and Phoebe's as well, unfold over twenty-five years. We learn of David's impoverished childhood and his sister's early death. His wife Norah was born into a wealthy lexington family and entered their marriage with no greater desire or expectation than to be taken care of. The loss of her daughter creates a rift in her life and her marriage that cannot be repaired. Nurse Caroline chose a difficult path during a time when unwed mothers and children who weren't "normal" were hidden away. Once she finds her feet, she navigates that path with determination and grace. And poor Paul attempts to secure love and approval in a home with some nameless thing missing.

Which brings us to the themes of the book. The effects of decisions, secrets and loss are the obvious ones. But author edwards also deftly explores societal change, disintigrating marriages, and what makes a family successful. All of these topics make Memory Keepers Daughter a great book for book groups and those who enjoy finely crafted dramas about the human condition.

You've been listening to The Open Book on KCPW. I'm Catherine Weller.

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