The Memory Keeper’s Daughter: Chapter 19: July 1988 Summary & Analysis

David sits in the home office of his new house, looking out the window at the summer day outside. Rosemary is downstairs in the garden, planting flowers. Her son Jack, now five years old, sits near her, playing with a toy truck. David loves Jack like his own son—but also regrets that he doesn’t have many memories of Paul at this age, since back then, David was always working. He thinks, now, that he’s never really known either Paul or Norah—the secret that “blossomed in the center of his family” kept him from them.

For years, David and Rosemary have lived together in this duplex—Rosemary has offered to pay rent, but David has refused, insisting that she spend her money on school instead. His motives in raising Rosemary and Jack up in this house are not “entirely altruistic”—even Rosemary once observed that she “fill[s] up the place left by the daughter [David] gave away.” David can’t argue with this—it’s even true that over the years, Rosemary and Paul have become friends, and even behave sometimes like brother and sister.

David goes downstairs, admiring the paper cuttings in Jack’s room before putting on his shoes and preparing to go for a run. He heads outside and greets Rosemary and Jack. Rosemary tells him that she has her last-ever class tonight, and David congratulates her and apologizes for forgetting—he’s been busy, he says, with his new clinic, which turns away no patient regardless of their insurance situation.

Rosemary tells David she has news for him. She has been offered a job back in Harrisburg, her hometown—and wants to move back home. She has recently reconciled with her family, and wants to be near them—plus, she says, the job will pay for her to go to college. Though David has tears in his eyes as he hears the news, he congratulates Rosemary. Rosemary tries her best to express her gratitude to David for essentially saving her life—but after so many years, she stumbles over the words. Rosemary also tells David that he should at last tell Norah and Paul the truth. David says he can’t promise Rosemary he will.

David reflects on a time, several years ago, when he set up trust funds for both Jack and Phoebe. He located Caroline’s address and drove out to Pittsburgh, determined to find where she and Phoebe lived and then at last come clean to Norah—but at the last moment, as he approached the house and saw Phoebe, Caroline, and Al through the front window, he knew he couldn’t disrupt their family. He got back in his car and drove away, determined to “spare” his family the pain of knowing that Phoebe had moved through her whole life unaware of them. 

Rosemary interrupts David’s thoughts by telling him she has one more piece of news—she is planning to marry her long-term boyfriend, Stuart. He is going to come to Harrisburg with her. David says that he’s happy for Rosemary, and all her news is making him feel old. Rosemary laughs, and asks David if he’ll give her away at her wedding in a few weeks. He promises he will, and asks Rosemary to send photographs of her and Jack’s lives in Harrisburg. Rosemary says she will. David has given up photography, exhausted by the “task of trying to transform the world into something else.”

David is about to set off on his run, but Rosemary says she forgot to tell him that Paul called from Seville, where he’s studying flamenco guitar. Rosemary says Paul didn’t leave a number, but sounded happy and promised to call again. David stretches and then sets off on his run.

As David runs, he realizes it is Norah’s birthday today. He thinks back to the early days of their marriage and becomes determined to go to her house—their old house—and tell her the truth, once and for all. He turns down the street where he used to live, but finds Norah’s driveway empty. He catches his breath, and then lets himself in through the back door for a drink of water. He walks through the house, taking in the changes Norah has made in the years since he’s left.

In the kitchen, near the phone, there is a yellow legal pad for messages. David picks up a pen and begins writing a note to Norah—he tries several different ways to communicate the truth, but feels written words are insufficient. He tears the paper up. Hearing the bathroom sink dripping, David goes out to the shed and gathers tools to fix the leaking faucet. While he works, he hears Norah’s voicemail pick up—a friend is leaving a message wishing her a good trip in Europe, and David remembers that she’s gone for a few weeks with her new boyfriend. Finished fixing the sink, David returns to the kitchen where he writes her a brief note—“I fixed the bathroom sink. Happy birthday.” David leaves, locks the door behind him, and continues his run.