The Memory Keeper’s Daughter

by

Kim Edwards

Artistic, passionate, and often angry, Paul Henry grows up in the shadow of the twin sister he never knew. Adventurous and curious as a little boy and later introverted, focused, and creative as a young man, Paul wrestles constantly with the secrecy, isolation, and animosity at the heart of his family. Aware of his parents’ distrust and dislike of one another and crushed by the pressure his father David puts on him to succeed in life, Paul vacillates between isolating himself and lashing out wildly for attention. He develops a serious talent for music, and later pursues a specialized education at Juilliard even against his father’s wishes. Music, Paul says, is the only thing that makes him feel “alive”—and he chases that sensation no matter the cost, desperate to escape the crushing, stifling soullessness of his parents’ house. When Paul learns the truth about his sister Phoebe after his father’s death, he struggles deeply with feelings of anger and resentment that he hasn’t felt since childhood. But after meeting Phoebe and beginning to heal from the wounds of the past alongside his mother Norah, Paul begins to understand how important it is not to waste one’s life trying to fix past mistakes. From Phoebe, he begins to learn how to live in the moment and accept the simple joys of life—and sees that differences can bring people closer rather than dividing them.

Paul Henry Quotes in The Memory Keeper’s Daughter

The The Memory Keeper’s Daughter quotes below are all either spoken by Paul Henry or refer to Paul Henry. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Secrets and Lies Theme Icon
).
Chapter 3: March 1964 Quotes

“He had a sister,” Norah whispered, determined, looking around at all the faces. They had come here out of kindness. They were sad, yes, and she was making them sadder by the second. What was happening to her? All her life she had tried so hard to do the right thing. “Her name was Phoebe. I want somebody to say her name. Do you hear me?” She stood up. “I want someone to remember her name.”

Related Characters: Norah Henry (speaker), Paul Henry, Phoebe Gill Simpson
Page Number: 47
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12: August 1977 Quotes

He had given their daughter away. This secret stood in the middle of their family; it shaped their lives together. He knew it, he saw it, visible to him as a rock wall grown up between them. And he saw Norah and Paul reaching out and striking rock and not understanding what was happening, only that something stood between them that could not be seen or broken.

Related Characters: Dr. David Henry (speaker), Norah Henry, Paul Henry, Phoebe Gill Simpson
Page Number: 193-194
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 22: July 1, 1989 Quotes

For a long time Norah sat very still, agitated, on the edge of knowing. And then suddenly the knowledge was hers, irrevocable, searing: all those years of silence, when he would not speak of their lost daughter, David had been keeping this record of her absence. Paul, and a thousand other girls, all growing.

Paul, but not Phoebe.

Norah might have wept. She longed suddenly to talk with David. All these years, he’d missed her too. All these photographs, all this silent, secret longing.

Related Characters: Norah Henry (speaker), Dr. David Henry, Paul Henry, Phoebe Gill Simpson
Related Symbols: Photography
Page Number: 364
Explanation and Analysis:

Caroline said it again: Phoebe, not dead but taken away. All these years. Phoebe, growing up in another city. Safe, Caroline kept saying. Safe, well cared for, loved. Phoebe, her daughter, Paul’s twin. Born with Down syndrome, sent away.

David had sent her away.

“You must be crazy,” Norah said, though even as she spoke so many jagged pieces of her life were falling into place that she knew what Caroline was saying must be true.

Related Characters: Norah Henry (speaker), Dr. David Henry, Caroline Gill Simpson, Paul Henry, Phoebe Gill Simpson
Page Number: 369
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 23: July 2-4, 1989 Quotes

Paul reached out into the hot, humid air, feeling as if he were standing in one of his father’s photographs, where trees bloomed up in the pulse of a heart, where the world was suddenly not what it seemed. He caught a flake in one palm; when he closed his hand into a fist and opened it again, his flesh was smeared with black. Ashes were drifting down like snow in the dense July heat.

Related Characters: Paul Henry (speaker), Dr. David Henry
Related Symbols: Photography, Snow
Page Number: 379
Explanation and Analysis:

He realized, with a deep sense of shame, that his pity for Phoebe, like his mother’s assumption of her dependence, had been foolish and unnecessary. Phoebe liked herself and she liked her life; she was happy. All the striving he had done, all the competitions and awards, the long and futile struggle to both please himself and impress his father—placed next to Phoebe’s life, all this seemed a little foolish too.

Related Characters: Paul Henry (speaker), Phoebe Gill Simpson
Page Number: 390
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 24: September 1, 1989 Quotes

“How?” he asked softly. “How could he never tell us?”

She turned to him, serious. “I don’t know. I’ll never understand it. But think how his life must have been, Paul. Carrying this secret with him all those years.”

He looked across the table. Phoebe was standing next to a poplar tree whose leaves were just beginning to turn, scraping whipped cream off her cake with her fork. “Our lives could have been so much different.”

“Yes. That’s true. But they weren’t different, Paul. They happened just like this.”

“You’re defending him,” he said slowly.

“No. I’m forgiving him. I’m trying to, anyway. There’s a difference.”

Related Characters: Norah Henry (speaker), Paul Henry (speaker), Dr. David Henry, Phoebe Gill Simpson
Page Number: 396
Explanation and Analysis:
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Paul Henry Quotes in The Memory Keeper’s Daughter

The The Memory Keeper’s Daughter quotes below are all either spoken by Paul Henry or refer to Paul Henry. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Secrets and Lies Theme Icon
).
Chapter 3: March 1964 Quotes

“He had a sister,” Norah whispered, determined, looking around at all the faces. They had come here out of kindness. They were sad, yes, and she was making them sadder by the second. What was happening to her? All her life she had tried so hard to do the right thing. “Her name was Phoebe. I want somebody to say her name. Do you hear me?” She stood up. “I want someone to remember her name.”

Related Characters: Norah Henry (speaker), Paul Henry, Phoebe Gill Simpson
Page Number: 47
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12: August 1977 Quotes

He had given their daughter away. This secret stood in the middle of their family; it shaped their lives together. He knew it, he saw it, visible to him as a rock wall grown up between them. And he saw Norah and Paul reaching out and striking rock and not understanding what was happening, only that something stood between them that could not be seen or broken.

Related Characters: Dr. David Henry (speaker), Norah Henry, Paul Henry, Phoebe Gill Simpson
Page Number: 193-194
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 22: July 1, 1989 Quotes

For a long time Norah sat very still, agitated, on the edge of knowing. And then suddenly the knowledge was hers, irrevocable, searing: all those years of silence, when he would not speak of their lost daughter, David had been keeping this record of her absence. Paul, and a thousand other girls, all growing.

Paul, but not Phoebe.

Norah might have wept. She longed suddenly to talk with David. All these years, he’d missed her too. All these photographs, all this silent, secret longing.

Related Characters: Norah Henry (speaker), Dr. David Henry, Paul Henry, Phoebe Gill Simpson
Related Symbols: Photography
Page Number: 364
Explanation and Analysis:

Caroline said it again: Phoebe, not dead but taken away. All these years. Phoebe, growing up in another city. Safe, Caroline kept saying. Safe, well cared for, loved. Phoebe, her daughter, Paul’s twin. Born with Down syndrome, sent away.

David had sent her away.

“You must be crazy,” Norah said, though even as she spoke so many jagged pieces of her life were falling into place that she knew what Caroline was saying must be true.

Related Characters: Norah Henry (speaker), Dr. David Henry, Caroline Gill Simpson, Paul Henry, Phoebe Gill Simpson
Page Number: 369
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 23: July 2-4, 1989 Quotes

Paul reached out into the hot, humid air, feeling as if he were standing in one of his father’s photographs, where trees bloomed up in the pulse of a heart, where the world was suddenly not what it seemed. He caught a flake in one palm; when he closed his hand into a fist and opened it again, his flesh was smeared with black. Ashes were drifting down like snow in the dense July heat.

Related Characters: Paul Henry (speaker), Dr. David Henry
Related Symbols: Photography, Snow
Page Number: 379
Explanation and Analysis:

He realized, with a deep sense of shame, that his pity for Phoebe, like his mother’s assumption of her dependence, had been foolish and unnecessary. Phoebe liked herself and she liked her life; she was happy. All the striving he had done, all the competitions and awards, the long and futile struggle to both please himself and impress his father—placed next to Phoebe’s life, all this seemed a little foolish too.

Related Characters: Paul Henry (speaker), Phoebe Gill Simpson
Page Number: 390
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 24: September 1, 1989 Quotes

“How?” he asked softly. “How could he never tell us?”

She turned to him, serious. “I don’t know. I’ll never understand it. But think how his life must have been, Paul. Carrying this secret with him all those years.”

He looked across the table. Phoebe was standing next to a poplar tree whose leaves were just beginning to turn, scraping whipped cream off her cake with her fork. “Our lives could have been so much different.”

“Yes. That’s true. But they weren’t different, Paul. They happened just like this.”

“You’re defending him,” he said slowly.

“No. I’m forgiving him. I’m trying to, anyway. There’s a difference.”

Related Characters: Norah Henry (speaker), Paul Henry (speaker), Dr. David Henry, Phoebe Gill Simpson
Page Number: 396
Explanation and Analysis: