Helpful Score: 4
I really liked this book! Based on the birth of fraternal twins, a healthy boy and a girl with Down syndrome, resulting in the father's disavowal of his newborn daughter. A snowstorm immobilizes Lexington, Ky., in 1964, and when young Norah Henry goes into labor, her husband, orthopedic surgeon Dr. David Henry, must deliver their babies himself, aided only by a nurse. Seeing his daughter's handicap, he instructs the nurse, Caroline Gill, to take her to a home and later tells Norah, who was drugged during labor, that their son Paul's twin died at birth. Instead of institutionalizing Phoebe, Caroline absconds with her to Pittsburgh. David's deception becomes the defining moment of the main characters' lives, and Phoebe's absence corrodes her birth family's core over the course of the next 25 years. David's undetected lie warps his marriage; he grapples with guilt; Norah mourns her lost child; and Paul not only deals with his parents' icy relationship but with his own yearnings for his sister as well.
Helpful Score: 1
Unbelievably good book. Twins separated at birth, one with Down's Syndrome. I'm kind of speechless.... but in a good way!
Helpful Score: 1
One of the best books I have ever read....it is definitely worth the time.
Helpful Score: 1
This book grabbed me from the very beginning--it just got into my heart the consequences that happened to these families after the father gave away the Down syndrome daughter at birth. The pages just keep turning as you get deeper and deeper into the events of these lives. One of the very best I've read in a long long time.
This is possibly one of *the* worst books I have ever read. Great premise - terrible storyline and execution. Not only is the writing marginal, but the author re-uses the same hokey imagery over and over "quicksilver child", "thin hair, held back with barettes". There is little redeeming about the characters, and the subplots are simply unbelievable. Don't waste a credit or your time on this one. If I were the publisher, I'd be embarrassed.
Very good story.
This is possibly one of *the* worst books I have ever read. Great premise - terrible storyline and execution. Not only is the writing marginal, but the author re-uses the same hokey imagery over and over "quicksilver child", "thin hair, held back with barettes". There is little redeeming about the characters, and the subplots are simply unbelievable. Don't waste a credit or your time on this one. If I were the publisher, I'd be embarrassed.
This is possibly one of *the* worst books I have ever read. Great premise - terrible storyline and execution. Not only is the writing marginal, but the author re-uses the same hokey imagery over and over "quicksilver child", "thin hair, held back with barettes". There is little redeeming about the characters, and the subplots are simply unbelievable. Don't waste a credit or your time on this one. If I were the publisher, I'd be embarrassed.
Excellent story. Large Print
