I really liked this book, although if you check the reviews on Amazon (689 to date!), people either seem to love the book or hate it. I will agree with the detractors that the book could have used better editing. Although I love descriptive passages, this one did suffer from too much repetition of certain words and metaphors.
The premise of the story is that a doctor delivers his wife’s twins with the assistance of his nurse during a snowstorm in 1964. In those days, there weren’t high-tech tests like sonograms, and they had no idea she was carrying twins. The firstborn is a healthy boy, but the second is a girl with Down Syndrome. These children often have heart problems, and the doctor’s sister died at age 12 from a weak heart. It tore up his family, so to spare his wife and the healthy twin, he asks the nurse to take his daughter to an institution. This was rather common in those days, as was women being sedated for childbirth. When his wife awakes, he tells her the baby was stillborn. Meanwhile, the nurse (who’s been in love with the doctor) can’t bear to leave the baby in the bleak institution, and takes her home, expecting the doctor to change his mind. When she sees a notice in the newspaper for a memorial service for the baby, she moves away with her, but keeps in touch with the doctor for most of the next 25 years. The story is told from the viewpoints of the doctor (David), his wife (Norah), the nurse (Caroline), and David and Norah’s son, Paul, once he turns 13.
The title refers to a camera (a model called “The Memory Keeper”) that Norah gives David on their second anniversary, almost a year after the twins were born. David becomes absorbed by photography and even builds a darkroom, contributing further to his isolation from Norah and Paul (already high due to a typical doctor’s schedule). However, the photography contributes a lot of lovely metaphors to the story. I think I appreciated it more because photography (and playing in a darkroom – Breathless has all the equipment, but we haven’t set it up in the laundry room yet) is an interest of mine.
I thought the characters were very interesting, and trying to understand why they did the things they did is probably why this book is a good one for discussion groups. My out-of-town book club discussed the book about ten days ago – I only wish all ten members had been there (only five were); I think the discussion could have been even better.
I found myself sympathetic to David’s plight. I felt Norah’s problems (drinking and affairs) were due more to her immaturity and marrying too young and too soon (three months after she and David met; when she was 22 and he 33), than to grief for a stillborn daughter. Paul’s anger at his father was typical for a teenage boy, but unrealistic once he reached adulthood. You’d think he’d be just as angry with his mom, since he knew about her first affair (when he was 13).
I’ve probably revealed too much already, so I won’t reveal the end, which is bittersweet. This book is one of the few that I’ve read and then bought (albeit for only $1) because I think I’d like to re-read it. The reason it grabbed me is the reason it’s been hard to write about the book. The idea of a lost child who isn’t really lost is one I can relate to.
Once again, I listened to the audiobook, which was read by
Ilyana Kadushin. I thought she did a good job with the book, with the slight tremor in her voice, and the soft Kentucky accents. This audiobook also had verbal disc beginning markers (a male voice stating the title and disc number), which I appreciated.
© Amanda Pape - 2007 -
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