The Memory Keeper’s Daughter: Chapter 23: July 2-4, 1989 Summary & Analysis

Early one morning in their apartment in Cincinnati, Paul and Michelle argue about the future. Somehow, a simple discussion has spiraled into a fight about marriage and having children. Michelle accuses Paul of speeding up their relationship so that he can have his “heart’s desire”—a child—at the expense of her own career. At the apex of their fight, Michelle goes into the bathroom to take a shower. Paul taps on the door and tells her he’s leaving to go to Lexington to help his mother pack up the house. He tells Michelle he’ll be back in time for her concert.

As Paul drives into Lexington, he’s overcome by memories of his childhood. As he pulls up to his childhood home, he turns the ignition off and sits in the driveway, thinking about the last year of his life. His father is dead, his mother is marrying a new man, and Paul, as “caretaker of the past,” must now help her pack up their home.

As Paul steps out of the car, he notices that the air seems to be full of snow—as he catches a flake, he realizes it is not snow but ash. He goes inside, calling for Norah, but cannot find her. He goes out the back door and finds her sitting on the back porch, watching a dwindling bonfire on the back lawn. He looks around at the scattered boxes, and realizes with horror that his mother is burning his father’s photographs. Norah, seeing Paul’s face, tells him not to worry—she was only able to burn one whole box before she lost courage and salvaged the rest.

Paul asks his mother what has happened to make her angry enough to burn David’s photos. Norah tells him that yesterday, she had a visit from Caroline Gill, the nurse who helped deliver Paul and his sister. Caroline, she says, revealed that Paul’s twin has been alive all these years, living in Pittsburgh with Down syndrome—and David never told them.

Paul is shocked and saddened to hear that his father sent his sister away because she was “not perfect.” He feels anger, but then relief, as he begins to realize why his father demanded perfection of him all his life. Paul asks how David could keep such a secret, and Norah confesses she’s been up all night wondering the same thing. Paul remembers one afternoon, helping David develop photographs. His father told him that the word “camera” came from the French word “chamber,” or room. “To be in camera,” David said then, “was to operate in secret.”

Norah gets up and retrieves some photographs of Phoebe—she brings them back to Paul so that he can look at them. In one of the photos, Phoebe is playing basketball, and Paul snidely remarks that David gave away “the wrong kid.” Norah tells Paul not to be bitter; Paul retorts that he can’t help but be bitter—David went so far, he says, as to give Phoebe a fake grave, which they visited often. 

Paul asks why Caroline came to tell the truth after so many years. Norah says that Caroline doesn’t want anything from them—she was just “opening a door.” A silence falls over them, and Paul suggests they get to work cleaning up the photographs. Paul stays in Lexington for several days, helping Norah. He calls Michelle to try and explain why he won’t be back for her concert, but she hangs up on him and refuses to take any more of his calls. On Tuesday, after the photographs and furniture have all been squared away, Norah and Paul get in the car and drive to Pittsburgh to meet Phoebe.

Pulling up to Caroline’s house, Paul and Norah spot her working in the garden. As Norah sees Caroline, she admits to Paul that she may have made a mistake—she’s not sure she can go through with meeting Phoebe. Paul reminds her that Caroline is expecting them, and they’ve driven such a long way. Suddenly, Paul sees another figure emerge from the house into the garden, carrying two glasses of water—it is Phoebe. She is pale and stocky, but her face’s features are delicate. Norah puts a hand to her heart as she sees her daughter for the first time. 

After a few moments, Norah and Paul get out of the car. Caroline and Phoebe see them, and stand up from the garden to meet them. As the four of them come together, they are all nervous—Paul looks down at his sister, unsure of how to talk to her, highly aware of how different she is. Phoebe, though, is the one to break the silence—she extends her hand to Paul and says she’s pleased to meet him. She does the same to Norah, and then Caroline suggests they all go inside to get out of the heat and drink some of the iced tea Phoebe made earlier.

Inside, Phoebe shows off her loom and her weaving projects while Caroline fixes drinks. The four of them sit down together and Norah, deeply nervous and unsure of what to say, tells Phoebe that she’s her mother—and offers Phoebe the chance to come live with her. Phoebe, though, takes hold of Caroline’s hand, and explains that Caroline is her mother, that she is going to get married to Robert, and that she doesn’t want to live anywhere else. Caroline comforts Phoebe, who is clearly overwhelmed by all the information.

Norah apologizes to Phoebe, and says she just wants the chance to get to know her. She walks her request back, and says that all she meant to express is that her doors are always open to Phoebe. Phoebe agrees that “maybe” one day she’ll come and visit. She then abruptly stands up and invites Paul to come to her room and look at her record player. On the way upstairs, Phoebe tells Paul about her boyfriend, Robert, and explains that they’re getting married. She asks Paul if he’s married, and he says he isn’t. Phoebe turns around and stares at Paul. He tells her she’s being impolite, and she replies that Paul looks sad. He admits that he is indeed “very, very sad.”

Up in Phoebe’s room, she puts on a Beatles record, and the two siblings talk about music. Paul tells her he plays the guitar, and Phoebe says she loves trombones. She asks Paul where he lives, and if he lives alone. When he says he lives by himself in Cincinnati, she tells him he's “lucky.” As Paul watches Phoebe change the record and listens to her talk about her job at the copy shop, he realizes that whatever pity he felt for her at first is misplaced—Phoebe is happy and content with her simple successes in life, and he suddenly feels sheepish about his own constant desire to impress other people.