This book from the New York Times Bestseller list is one that I have been interested in reading for some time now. With high praise from authors such as Jodi Picoult and Sue Monk Kidd, it promises to be a touching novel "with language so lovely you have to reread the passages just to be captivated all over again...simply a beautiful book."
Already, the opening chapters, set the stage for an impossible and heart-breaking decision made in the midst of a snowstorm that affects the lives of all the characters involved. Two babies are born to a doctor and his wife at a clinic, as a storm rages outside. One of them, a boy, is perfectly healthy, while the other, a girl, is described as "a mongoloid - flaccid muscle tone, delayed growth and mental development, possible heart complications and early death." The doctor, whose Down Syndrome sister had died at the age of 12, causing grief for the entire family, both due to her death and to the constant attention required during her short life, makes the decision to send the baby to an institution to spare his wife the inevitable anguish. He then tells his wife the baby died. A nurse is sent to deliver the baby to the institution but she ends up keeping the baby herself. This sets up a chain of events that is sure to make for a heart-wrenching, emotionally-charged story.
What does the future hold for this tiny, challenged baby and her new mother? Will the doctor's wife ever find out that her daughter is alive? How will this change her relationship with her husband? I think it is inevitable that she will eventually discover the deception, given that secrets have a way of coming out, sometimes at the worst possible moment. But love can come in many forms and the love of this innocent child is sure to change the lives of all involved.
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