The Memory Keeper's Daughter By Kim Edwards

I just finished this book and it was pretty good! The plot was very interesting and kind of weird. David Henry gave his baby girl with down syndrome to a nurse to take the baby to an institution. The nurse, Caroline, ended up raising the baby as her own. David didn't tell his wife about giving the baby up, he told her she died. I have no idea what David thought this would solve. He should have told his wife from the beginning. Throughout the book, you see the girl, Phoebe, growing up the nurse and Phoebe's twin, Paul, growing with David and his wife, Norah. The book gets boring at several points because the author just seems to ramble and say stuff that doesn't seem to matter. Both children grow up not knowing the other is alive, but Caroline and David send each other letters to communicate: Caroline tells him about Phoebe and he sends her money to help with Phoebe. The title is what is because this talks a lot about photography and David's camera is called the memory keeper. A lot of learning takes place based on photographs. David is also a photographer. Reading this book, I also get to learn about how mental diseases are treated during the 1960s. Caroline finds it very hard to get Phoebe into school and doesn't have that much faith in her. She is very scared about Phoebe leaving their home, which every parent is, but especially scared because of her down syndrome. I think she should give Phoebe more freedom and trust that she raised her the right way. Paul is also very good because he really wants to help Phoebe and learn about her and take care of her. You also see the lack of trust in David and Paul's relationship because David doesn't rust Paul's musical talent to get him through life, but Paul still pursues music and has a great life. The lack of trust and fighting over Paul's future destroys their relationship. Some parts of this book were very easy to get through and exciting, but a lot of it was boring, but I still am glad I read the book