Edwards Talks Memory Keeper's Daughter and
Her Upcoming Book

Kim Edwards Exclusive Interview With Book Help Web

Kim Edwards is a writer's writer. She has a passion for language that is evident in everything she writes.

The author of a short story collection, her work would come to national attention when the paperback release of The Memory Keeper's Daughter skyrocketed to the top of bestseller lists in 2006 and stayed there all summer. Today, three months after its release, it sits at the top of most fiction bestseller lists.

There's a good reason for this. The book is a stunning work written in a beautifully, flowing style. It is poetic in nature while still having a compelling plot line and characters who are heartbreakingly real and who must live with the consequences of their flawed choices and the choices made by others.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter is based on a true incident, one that was given to the Kim Edwards by her pastor and stayed with her for years until she figured out how to make a story out of it. The novel opens in 1964 with David and Norah Henry on the evening that Norah goes into labor. They're all surprised when Norah delivers twins. One child, Paul, is perfectly healthy. The second child, Phoebe, has obvious signs of Down's Syndrome. David, a doctor, wanting to shield his wife from the pain of raising a retarded child who was unlikely to survive childhood (or so they thought in those days), sent the child away with the nurse to an institution and tells his wife the child is dead.

The nurse, Caroline, is repulsed by the task and by the institution that she takes the baby too. So instead, she takes the child, leaves the city and raises the girl as her own. The novel continues for the next 25 years, following the parallel lives of these two families.

It's a heart-rending story filled with metaphors, regret, and secrets. Kim Edwards tells us what it was like to research and write this beautiful novel.

Book Help Web: What type of research did you do for The Memory Keeper's Daughter and what was the most surprising thing you discovered? Was there anything you learned that was especially fascinating that you were not able to use in the book?

Kim Edwards: I did all sorts of research for The Memory Keeper's Daughter, exploring photography, the ancient geography of Kentucky, and of course Down syndrome, as well as many other, smaller topics. There were many wonderful moments of discovery-in particular, I was fascinated to discover that the small, button-shaped fossils I'd picked up on walks were actually parts of the stems of crinoids, an organism that resembles a sea lily and that once flourished in the shallow ancient seas that covered Kentucky.

I also learned a tremendous amount about Down syndrome, as well as about the difficult landscape parents of children with Down syndrome faced when they started questioning conventional thinking and raising their children at home. I discovered any number of quiet heroes, people who made a difference in individual lives and also inspired social change. I didn't know about any of this before I began writing The Memory Keeper's Daughter.

BHW: The words you use make the book almost like an extended song-a complex ballad. Were they words that flowed naturally all at once or did you make extensive revisions?

Kim Edwards: Thanks for this comment and question. I started writing first because I love the sound and nuances of language (in addition to my MFA in fiction, I have an MA in linguistics), and I always think about the way the words sound, seeking both precision in meaning and cadences that reflect the narrative moment of the story. The sentences often flow as I write them, but I also do a great deal of revision. It's not uncommon for me to go back to a word or phrase or sentence multiple times until I feel I've gotten both the meaning and the sound just right.

BHW: One of the amazing feats that you accomplish in this novel is to make all of the characters sympathetic-even David. How well did you come to know these characters and do they ever still visit you? Did they ever act in ways that were unexpected as you created the novel?

Kim Edwards: I always know things are going well in a story when the characters start surprising me, and that was very true while writing The Memory Keeper's Daughter. I wrote the first chapter quite quickly--within a month--though I had been thinking about the book for several years by then. Once I had the first chapter, I felt compelled to discover what happened next with characters, how they responded and how those responses shaped their lives. So I kept writing. Of course, discoveries I made later in the book would sometimes influence earlier moments, and I'd go back to shape and revise. There's a constant interplay between the intuitive moments of inspiration and the more analytical shaping; writing involves both creative aspects. But I did always find all these characters very sympathetic-human, full of good intentions and wrong turns and mistakes, yet always growing and seeking to more fully understand themselves and their situations.

BHW: Many of the statements and incidents that Caroline had to endure while raising Phoebe seem to come straight from the memories of people raising children with handicaps in that time period. Were they? What were some of the stories shared with you that you were unable to use?

Kim Edwards: I talked to many people, and I read a great deal, but I did not use any of the stories I was told, nor did I get to know any particular individual with Down syndrome while writing this book. Phoebe is a fictional character, and her story is fictional, too. Nonetheless, the stories I heard and read really did give me a deep understanding of the sorts of struggles people have faced, both from the institutional structures of our culture, and from the careless comments people make. All of this informed my writing of the book.

BHW: Will you share with us some of the reader response you've personally received from this novel? What has been the most memorable and meaningful to you?

Kim Edwards: I get emails nearly every day from people who have been moved by The Memory Keeper's Daughter and who share their thoughts and observations; while I was traveling this summer, people would speak up from the audience to share their thoughts as well. Many people are compelled by the idea of a family secret--that seems to be a universal! And others have told stories about their loved ones--a beloved older sister with Down syndrome, and aunt or grandmother who defied convention and raised a child with Down syndrome at home in the 40s or 50s, long before there was any support. Some people have brought photos of their children-some now grown-who have Down syndrome, and have generously shared their stories with me, too.

BHW: How do you account for the difference in attention that The Memory Keeper's Daughter received in its paperback release from what it received in its hardcover release?

Kim Edwards: Well, to be honest, nothing could have prepared me for the incredible response to the paperback release of my novel. But I do think there has been a wonderful conversation going on about The Memory Keeper's Daughter ever since it was published in hardcover. It got great reviews overall, and reached thousands of people. In most of the emails I've received, people say they've passed the book on to a dozen friends, or all their family, or their book group. As an author, it's very gratifying to know that my book has moved so many people and inspired such passionate discussion.

BHW: How do you follow up a book like this? What's your next project?

Kim Edwards: I'm working on another novel, one which I'd started and which was well underway before the paperback release of The Memory Keeper's Daughter. I've written all my life-I was telling stories even before I could write them down-so I'm looking forward very much to getting back to this new novel, and to several stories I have in progress. For me, writing is a way of being, a way of exploring and interacting with the world, a means of discovery. It's such a part of who I am that I'm never quite myself if I'm not writing regularly.

BHW: Do you find yourself returning to certain themes in your writing? What is it that draws you to those themes and how do you keep the approaches fresh in each story?

Kim Edwards: My story collection is titled The Secrets of a Fire King (which Penguin will reissue next year), but though it has secrets in the title, the stories are actually very diverse, taking place all over the world-particularly in parts of Asia, where I lived and taught for five years-and touching on my themes and situations. I tend to be interested in characters, first, rather than themes-the theme of a story, like the plot, emerges from the individual actions and responses of the characters. But in terms of conflict, I do think I tend to be compelled by stories in which an individual's personal journey of discovery makes that character question circumstances she or he has always taken for granted.

BHW: Is there a story that you'd love to write but don't think you'll be able to? What is it and what keeps you from it?

Kim Edwards: Sometimes I have ideas for stories that I never end up pursuing, but it's never been because I've been blocked from telling the story in some way-for whatever reason, the initial idea just never takes hold and becomes compelling enough to sustain a story or a book. In other cases, I've had ideas for stories that I think about for years before I start to write them. That was certainly true of The Memory Keeper's Daughter, and it's true of the new novel as well. Although writing is very intellectual pursuit, I don't underestimate the power of the subconscious in the creation of a story or a book.

--B. Redman