I have recently started a new book. It is called "the Memory Keeper's Daughter" by Kim Edwards. I chose this book off the shelf partially because of the creative cover (yes I judged a book by its cover...)
I am only on the first chapter but already I can tell a lot about the author. Edwards uses a very descriptive style. She puts you right in the room when the babies are born and describes the emotions and the atmosphere perfectly. The first 3 paragraphs establishes the setting and a little bit of background about the characters in this novel. Below are the first few lines which give insight into her descriptive style:
"Th snow started to fall several hours before her labor began. A few flakes first, in the dull gray late-afternoon sky, and then wind-driven swirls and eddies around the edges of their wide front porch. He stood by her side at the window, watching sharp gusts of snow billow, then swirl and drift to the ground. All around the neighborhood, lights came on, and the naked branches of the trees turned white."
I love this introduction because I could picture this happening, vividly, in my imagination. I also love how she makes everything seem calm and perfect, just before the stressful labor, without a doctor, begins. I also love how the author is "all-knowing" about the characters. The fact that she knows so much about the characters helps us understand them and gives them a realness that would not be as clear otherwise.
In this first chapter, I start off very impressed at how well everything is going, despite the hectic surroundings of the babies being born. Everything is going perfectly and then the father of the two children realizes that his daughter has down syndrome. He sends her off with the nurse who helped deliver her and tells her to put his daughter in an institution. He then lies to his wife and tells her that the second child died as she was born. This part made me very upset and also made me more interested in the book. I'm looking forward to reading!
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