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When David Henry returns to his childhood home in West Virginia—a property to which he still holds the deed—he discovers sixteen-year-old Rosemary squatting there. Pregnant, abandoned by her boyfriend, and disowned by her family, Rosemary has nowhere to go, so David makes the impulsive decision to bring her back to Kentucky with him. Norah rejects the idea of having Rosemary in the house, prompting a split in their family; David moves out of the house to live with Rosemary, and for years they share a platonic friendship. Rosemary, who is the same age as Paul—and Phoebe—represents, to David, a chance at redemption. If he cares for Rosemary, he believes, he’ll be doing some sort of penance for his failure of Phoebe. Ultimately, after giving birth to her son Jack and graduating from school, Rosemary decides to marry her new boyfriend and move home to Harrisburg, where her family, having forgiven her for the delinquency of her youth, is ready to welcome her back. Rosemary is headstrong and stubbornly self-sufficient, though she softens through the years as she makes a home and a family with David.
Rosemary Quotes in The Memory Keeper’s Daughter
The The Memory Keeper’s Daughter quotes below are all either spoken by Rosemary or refer to Rosemary. 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:
).
Chapter 16: April 1982
Quotes
Her silence made him free. He talked like a river, like a storm, words rushing through the old house with a force and life he could not stop. […] He talked until the words slowed, ebbed, finally ceased. Silence welled.
She did not speak. […]
He closed his eyes, fear rising, because he had seen anger in her eyes, because everything that happened had been his fault.
Her footsteps and then the metal, cold and bright as ice, slid against his skin. The tension in his wrists released. […]
“All right,” she said. “You’re free.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Memory Keeper’s Daughter LitChart as a printable PDF.
Rosemary Quotes in The Memory Keeper’s Daughter
The The Memory Keeper’s Daughter quotes below are all either spoken by Rosemary or refer to Rosemary. 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:
).
Chapter 16: April 1982
Quotes
Her silence made him free. He talked like a river, like a storm, words rushing through the old house with a force and life he could not stop. […] He talked until the words slowed, ebbed, finally ceased. Silence welled.
She did not speak. […]
He closed his eyes, fear rising, because he had seen anger in her eyes, because everything that happened had been his fault.
Her footsteps and then the metal, cold and bright as ice, slid against his skin. The tension in his wrists released. […]
“All right,” she said. “You’re free.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
