The book begins with a fairly newlywed couple, Dr. David Henry and his wife Norah. Norah is pregnant and goes into labor on a cold winter night. They rush to David’s clinic, but a blizzard prevents the other doctor from arriving. Therefore, David is forced to deliver his twins by himself, with the help of his nurse, Caroline. The Henrys’ first child born is a healthy boy. However, his twin is a girl born with Down syndrome.

Norah is unconscious during the birth of her girl, which causes David to make a split-second decision to send his daughter to an institution. He asks Caroline to take the girl there; she reluctantly agrees. However, she decides she can’t go through with the process and decides to raise the girl as her own in another city.

Here is a section from the book that describes David’s emotions a year after his twins were born:
“David felt a sense of panic, almost vertigo, at all he didn’t know; at all he knew and couldn’t mend. And anger: he felt that too, suddenly, in a great rush. At himself, but also at Caroline, who had not done what he’d asked, who had made an impossible situation even worse” (122).

The overall plot and the dialogue of the book were very strong. I liked how the narration was portrayed from three different people throughout the novel. However, what I felt was weak was the ability to keep the reader’s attention the whole time. I started out really enjoying the novel, but as it progressed, I found it harder and harder to tune in. The plot seemed to plummet towards the end.

Personally, I really enjoyed the first half of the book because I didn’t know what was going to happen and I kept hoping things would work out. As the plot progressed, that hope was dashed and I became very disappointed in the characters and soon lost interest. Overall, it was an interesting novel, but I wouldn’t highly recommend it.