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Welcome to Calliope's Coffee House the proprietor of this establishment is Jacquie Reaville better known as The Book Imp.

When I started this place it was primarily for book reviews and thoughts on all things literary. Well the book reviews are still here, but somehow it's grown into a place for me and others to practice short fictional writing and of course a place where I can give my thoughts and opinions on virtually any subject that might take my fancy.

Hope you enjoy your visit.

Just to add that I welcome comments, the more the merrier. They don't even have to be related to books or writing just go wild (not too wild though).

Permissions are set so that even anonymous users can answer - but comment moderation is in effect which means I get to say yes or no to letting them appear here.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Book Review: The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

ISBN: 9780141030142
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Website: www.penguin.co.uk
Copyright © Kim Edwards 2005
Book Website: The Memory Keeper’s Daughter
401 Pages, Paperback

The year is 1964 and a Doctor, David Henry and his wife, Norah are expecting their first baby. A series of events culminate in David Henry having to deliver his own child. A perfect baby boy, Paul, but then his twin sister is born, a complete surprise and also a problem. Phoebe has Down Syndrome. This is the story of a family that holds a secret at its centre. A family built on deceit, love, grief and anger, and what becomes of them.

When I began to read this story I was struck by the flowery and longwinded nature of the prose. I persevered however, and found that the story was interesting enough to attract my attention, but unfortunately the writing style made my attention wander.

The characters were stereotypical, and the story had too much sentimentality and not enough reality for my taste. I found that I didn’t really care about any of the people with the exception of Phoebe, and that characterisation wasn’t built upon enough.

Not my cup of tea at all.

4 comments:

  1. Concise and to the point! which is more than can be said for the book in question LOL

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree. Saccharine. Dragged myself through it like a corpse because I felt obligated: book club read.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I wanted to skim! I never skim, so I had to really work hard at reading properly. This is up for "my clunker of the year" I think.

    ReplyDelete

I welcome comments so please feel free to leave a message, the site allows Anonymous users but comment moderation is in effect. Which means I get to vet what you've written before it appears on the page (Oh the power!).

About Me

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Birmingham, West Midlands, United Kingdom
My name is Jac, Jacquie, Jacquelynn, TheBookImp or just Imp. I live in the UK. I love to read as is probably obvious. I also like to write. Anything else you would like to know just ask.

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