Category Archives: Special Needs
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards
A haunting story of a man who makes a decision he will have to live with and keep a secret for the rest of his life. A doctor, caught in a snow storm, is forced to deliver his own twins. One is born perfectly, and the other is unmistakably a Down’s baby. In a moment, he asks his nurse, who has sedated his wife completely, to take the retarded baby to a home for babies with disabilities. His one mistake: he doesn’t tell his wife. Continue reading
Lark and Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips
While reading the last few chapters of this gem, I cried. I love novels that bring tears to my eyes.
This masterpiece is a work by an artist of whom I had never heard. The story is a mesmerizing tale, told by five of the main characters: Lark, a young lady, raised by her aunt; Nonie, the aunt who takes in her sister’s children; Termite, the young brother, who has cerebral palsy and/or spina bifida, who sees the world through sounds, colors, and smells; Bobby, Termite’s father, who loves the kids’ mother with his entire soul but is separated from his family by the Korean War; and Lola, the captivating woman who bears her children but cannot keep them.
Very few writers have the ability to capture such sensory details in words. One day I aspire to do this as completely and magnificently as this woman does. If there was ever a book that has become my all-time favorite, this absolutely is it. Continue reading
