The Bookseller.com

22nd November 2008

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The new sleeper hit

18.06.07

Like many good stories, The Memory Keeper's Daughter begins on a dark and snowy night. But, unlike most first novels from barely known authors, the book has gone on to be one of the biggest hits in recent American publishing, notes the Guardian.

It has sold more than 3.5 million copies in America and is due for publication in at least 15 other countries. It has done all this despite - or perhaps because - it is about one of the most emotional and difficult situations any new parents might face: a child being born with Down's syndrome.

The book has been the big 'sleeper hit' of the literary scene, following other mega-hits such as The Kite Runner and The Secret Life of Bees. The book's author, University of Kentucky professor Kim Edwards, had previously published only a collection of short stories but is now one of the book industry's hottest properties.

Guardian

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