Memory Keepers Daughter

I have belonged to the Northdale Book Club for 3 years now. In October we reviewed The Memory Keepers Daughter, a book written by Kim Edwards. Here is what the jacket says about the book: 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 recognized that his daugher has Down Syndrome. For motives that he tells himself are good he makes a split second decision that changes all their lives forever. He asks his nurse, Caroline, to take the baby away to live in an institution. Instead she disappears into another city to raise the child as her own. Compulsively readable and completely moving, The Memory Keepers Daughter is a brilliantly crafted story of parallel lives, familial secrets, and the redemptive power of love. Our discussion of the book got very heated at times. Because I work with people who have Down Syndrome every day, I am sometimes startled by what other people think of people who have Down Syndrome. We got into a discussion about mainstreaming - allowing children with disabilities to be a part of the rest of the school. Schools used to keep the kids with disabilities separate. Now they can join the rest of the students for all or part of the day. I think this was a change for the better. I think our society should include people with disabilities. I think the kids in school should see people who use wheelchairs or talking devices or other adaptive equipment. I think children can benefit from friendships with kids with disabilities as much as the kids with disabilities can benefit from friendships with kids who don't have disabilites. Not everyone agrees with me. If kids with disabilities are bullied by some children, is that all bad? Not that being bullied is good but it is an experience that almost everyone goes through. I thought this book was very though provoking. We all agreed that the daughter with Down Syndrome had a better life being taken away by Caroline the nurse than she would have had with her birth parents who undoubtably would have put her in an institution.