On a winter night in 1964, Dr. David Henry is forced by a blizzard to deliver his own twins. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy. Yet when his daughter is born, he sees immediately that she has Down’s Syndrome. Rationalizing it as a need to protect Norah, his wife, he makes a split-second decision that will alter all of their lives forever. He asks his nurse to take the baby away to an institution and never to reveal the secret. But Caroline, the nurse, cannot leave the infant. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child herself. So begins this story that unfolds over a quarter of a century – in which these two families, ignorant of each other, are yet bound by the fateful decision made that long-ago winter night. Norah Henry, who knows only that her daughter died at birth, remains inconsolable; her grief weighs heavily on their marriage. And Paul, their son, raises himself as best he can, in a house grown cold with mourning. Meanwhile, Phoebe, the lost daughter, grows from a sunny child to a vibrant young woman whose mother loves her as fiercely as if she were her own.
Honestly, it could have been so much better! The story has so much potential and power that has gone to waste. The concept is very bold and that boldness should have been evident in the plot as well. I think it is just right to expect a moving story out of a very powerful synopsis. I expected the story to be complicated and heart wrenching or maybe just stirring in the least but I was let down. It was disappointing because the story was dull and dragged. It was weak. I really wanted to like the story, to understand it despite the shallowness but it proved unattainable. I held on until the end hoping for a change or a surprise or something that would make me change my mind but what I got was a “That’s it?” ending. I can’t even think of a viable excuse for the lack of imagination in this book. Sayang effort!
i go by Colored Ambivalence 