I started reading this book about a year ago. I got past the first thirty pages and put it down. I was so angry at the main character in the novel that I just couldn’t read it. I assist adults with disabilities for work and have done so for years. As a disclaimer, this book is not meant to be offensive. I just really didn’t like Dr. David Henry.
The event that took place in the beginning of the novel that sets the rest in motion is the birth of Dr. David Henry’s twins. The birth takes place in 1964. Mrs. Henry (Norah) goes into labour in the middle of the night during the first snow fall of the year. Unable to get to the hospital David takes Norah to his clinic to deliver the baby (unaware that she is actually having twins). His plan was to have an older doctor deliver the baby, but the doctor didn’t make it, ending up in a snowbank instead. So the only people present at the birth are Dr. Henry, Norah (of course) and a nurse (Caroline Gill).
The first baby is born, a beautiful perfect baby boy with dark hair, like his father. As was usual during that time Dr. Henry puts Norah under for the birth. She wakes enough to see her baby boy born and names him Paul. Dr. Henry puts Norah under again to deliver what he presumes is the placenta. He delivers a baby girl instead. The baby girl is born with downs syndrome. While Norah is out Dr. Henry has Caroline Gill take the baby to an institution where she’ll be raised. Dr. Henry tells his wife that their daughter died in childbirth. And that is where I stopped reading, at least until a week ago.
I finally picked the novel back up to finish reading it. Kim Edwards describes the event of the birth as a rock thrown into a pond and the ripples that continue after are the effects of the lie he told. The writing is really good. The story is interesting, and the characters are believable. I found myself unable to skim this novel. It was definitely a solid read.