The basic plot: doctor's wife gives birth to twins, the second of which is clearly afflicted with Down's Syndrome. In a moment he will regret for the rest of his life, he sends the nurse away with the baby, telling her to place the child in a 'home.' Meanwhile, he tells his wife the second baby died.A set-up for lots of different story threads, and Edwards doesn't disappoint. She covers post-partum depression, grief, the panic of following your heart even when you don't know where it's taking you, relationships between family members, definition of family, equal education for all children in the public schools, aging, fear (LOTS of fear), adolescence.... For the most part, all this is woven into a tapestry that is clean and well-patterned.
Unfortunately, my first thought after reaching the end was, "So, why did I read this?" That's never a good thing. I loved listening to it, although the speaking voice of the reader was one of the most annoying ever! But at the end, I'm not sure what the deep meaning is. Maybe it's just not as deep as I wanted it to be. And the whole subplot about the pregnant teenager...WTF?
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