The Memory Keeper's Daughter

Hello everyone! CJ's here again. Hmm....it has been awhile since I post something on this blog. It's not that I stop writing, but lots of works need to be done. So, it can't be help. Well, today I would like to write a review of The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards. I picked up this book weeks ago from the library shelf because I thought that the storyline of the books is interesting.

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In the middle of blizzard in 1964, Dr. David Henry help his wife Norah to deliver their first baby with the help of his nurse Caroline. His first born is a boy, a perfect little boy but then shockingly, the blessing doubles: there's another baby. A girl. But, before he can even rejoice, David knows that something is wrong with the baby girl. An extra copy of 21st chromosome, "Down Syndrome". Haunted by his past, David believes that this lil' girl will bring sadness to the family. Her future offers nothing but grief. Then, without his wife notice, Henry asks the nurse to take away the baby to an institution and he declares death of his baby girl.

Caroline, the nurse who secretly in love with David, takes the baby away. But, she can't just put the baby in the institution since it's not a better place for the baby. Thus, she takes the baby in as her own and lives far away from David. Since the incident, the world around David start s crumbling apart. Lies after lies, and his marriage is doomed. His boy is foreign to him. His family become colder and smaller. Caroline, in the other hand work so hard to give her everything to make sure that Phoebe will get a better place in society.

Despite being a profoundly moving novel, The Memory Keeper's Daughter have a few obvious flaw. The most obvious flaw is the characters are not well developed and sometimes, they are out of characters. Next flaw is the time-line of the story. In order to cover the 25 years timespan of the story, Edwards begin to gloss over thing. Years in the lives of her characters are summed up in only a few big ticket events. This makes me really unsatisfied. I also think that Edwards is trying to much with the languages where she uses too much beautiful words and metaphors that make it difficult for me to catch the meanings. I also don't like the ending of the story which I think it's a boring conclusion with little emotion. I expect the ending will be a nice and heart-warming ending. Maybe a lil' bit tear-jerking ending would be nice. Haha! So..3 stars for this book and that's all for now. Till next time!! Ciao....

Ghosh and Edwards

Hey guys! Check 'em out what I got from the library shelf this time. The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh and The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards. I hope that, after two thriller books that I borrow last time, these will calm me a little bit. Family relationship, nature, humanity and a bit of history. I think, this week might be a good week for these kind of books.

The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh

Who's Amitav Ghosh ?: He was born in Culcutta in 1956. He studied at The Doon School, St. Stephens College, delhi University, Oxford University, and the faculty of Arts at the University of Alexadria (Wow...he sure loves study, isn't he?). Began his first job at Indian express newspaper in New Delhi, Ghosh was then earned his doctorate at Oxford before he wrote his first novel, The Circle of Reason in 1986.

The Hungry Tide:

(from the book cover) Between the sea and the plains of Bengal lies an immense archipelago of islands. Here, for hundreds of years, only the truly dispossessed braved man-eating tigers and crocodiles that rule there, to eke out a precarious existence from the mud.

The settlers of the Sundarbans believe that anyone without a pure heart who ventures into the watery labyrinth will never return. it is the arrival of Piya Roy, of Indian parentage but stubbornly American, and Kanai Dutt, a sophisticated delhi businessman, that disturbs the delicate balance of settlement life. from this moment, the tide begins to turn.

Praise for this book:

"An intricate book, tinged with a melancholic and fragile beauty....it is a sense of place that dominates this novel - and what an extraordinary place it is." - Economist

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The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

Who's Kim Edwards ?: She grew up in Skaneateles, New York. She graduated from Colgate University and the University of Iowa, where she received an MFA in Fiction and an MA in Linguistics. After completing her graduate work, she went with her Husband to Asia, where they spent the next 5 years teaching, first on the rural east coast of Malaysia, then in a small city an hour south of Tokyo and finally in Phnom penh, Cambodia. The Memory Keeper's Daughter , was selected for Barnes and Noble Discovery Award and won the Kentucky Literary Award for fiction in 2005.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter:

(from the cover) This stunning novel begins on a winter night in 1964, when a blizzard forces Dr. David Henry to deliver his own twins. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy, but the doctor immediately recognizes that his daughter has Down Syndrome.

For motives he tells himself are good, he makes a split-second decision that will haunt all their lives forever. He asks his nurse, Caroline. to take the baby away to an institution. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child as her own. Compulsively readable and deeply moving, The Memory Keeper's Daughter is a brilliantly crafted story parallel lives, familial secrets and the redemptive power of love.

Praise for this book:

"In the Memory Keeper's Daughter, Kim Edwards has created a tale of regret and redemption.. of characters haunted by their past. crafted with language so lovely you have to re-read the passages just to be captivated all over again....simply a beautiful book" - Jodi Picoult

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OK guys! those are all for now...Have a nice day, and share with me your story and books. Until next time, Ciao....