What readers think of The Memory Keeper's Daughter, plus links to write your own review.

I really thought this book was going to be a good one not that it isn't, but it took me a real long time to read it. The whole process of the chapters and how they were set up was one of the things I didn't like about this book. I feel as if the author did not provide enough interesting parts in this book as i would have expected she would. It was too long of a read to get to the next interesting part of the novel. The whole time I felt like I was reading way to slow and couldn't help but to read slow. The novel isn't bad but something about it lags.

The popularity of book and reading groups has given rise to a new "literary" genre: I call it "Book Club". Far too many new novels seem to be pedantically written, in order that they may be discussed by groups. This book is one of those.

The topic, which is actually very compelling, should have been the framework for an interesting book, but the characters were shallow, and the resolution sketchy. The setting (early 1960s) is not explored. Caroline is sketched as heroic, yet she essentially stole another woman's child. David was a man who's character was not strong enough to accept a disabled child, yet was also not strong enough to live with his choice.

No one ever "came to grips" with what was done. Each character seemed only an individual, not a part of the larger family group. But, it never felt like that was what the author intended. If it had been, it might have been an accurate representation of what life was for those people - how the action of the father affected them all. But the author never seemed to choose: Were the characters all individuals because of the father's choice, or were they a family unit, dysfunctional because of the father's choice?

The book might deserve reading, but I grieve that it isn't all it could have been.

I was surprised when i finished this book, everyone had told me it was a slow read, but, I was pleasantly surprised. I think it was inspirational and had dimension.

Kim Edwards is obviously an excellent writer, but needs some practice on developing her characters and story line. Or, perhaps, her editor needs some help. This eloquent writing is belabored by tedious characters, endlessly drawn out unnatural moments of reflection, and too many literal reminders and pointers toward the meaning of it all. Give me a break. I had to make myself finish it.
This book is so overdone it misses the mark.
Too bad.

This book is one of the most entertaining books that I’ve read. I loved the fact that it was completely unpredictable and emotionally delightful to read.

I had heard such good things about this book and looked forward to reading it. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed with The Memory Keeper's Daughter. The characters were very one dimensional and I found the book very predictable. Overall, this book was just ok, but did not live up to its hype.

I was so disappointed with this novel. The story, which should have made me feel so much emotion at this family's tragedy, left me cold. The characters were cardboard, not fully sketched out. The whole novel is one, long, drawn-out whine. There were also too many holes in the story line to be believable. I can understand David's wanting to give the child away in 1964, but: (1) how was it that it was so easy to get a gravesite for a child that didn't exist? (2) when Caroline tells David why she didn't put Phoebe into the institution because of its poor quality, it is not believable that he didn't take things into his own hands - to take the baby from her and either put the child into another institution, or decide to tell his wife and decide to raise the child. (3) there is never any discussion or mention of why David & Norah never have any other children - did they not want any more? could she not have any more children? Discussions about children - ALWAYS take place in every marriage and I think it's absence in the novel made the whole story of their marriage seem even more unrealistic. I wanted to like this novel, but I'm afraid it just irritated me.

Just to add Down Syndrome is spelled Down's Syndrome in British English