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AudibleInk - The Stolen Child
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List Price: $13.95
Our Price: $11.16
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Manufacturer: Anchor
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FREE SHIPPING on Orders over $25!
Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9781400096534
ISBN: 1400096537
Label: Anchor
Manufacturer: Anchor
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 336
Publication Date: 2007-05-08
Publisher: Anchor
Release Date: 2007-05-08
Studio: Anchor
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Editorial Reviews:
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“I am a changeling–a word that describes within its own name what we are bound and intended to do. We kidnap a human child and replace him or her with one of our own. . . .”
The double story of Henry Day begins in 1949, when he is kidnapped at age seven by a band of wild childlike beings who live in an ancient, secret community in the forest. The changelings rename their captive Aniday and he becomes, like them, unaging and stuck in time. They leave one of their own to take his place, an imposter who must try–with varying success–to hide his true identity from the Day family. As the changeling Henry grows up, he is haunted by glimpses of his lost double and by vague memories of his own childhood a century earlier. Narrated in turns by Henry and Aniday, The Stolen Child follows them as their lives converge, driven by their obsessive search for who they were before they changed places in the world.
Moving from a realistic setting in small-town America deep into the forest of humankind’s most basic desires and fears, this remarkable novel is a haunting fable about identity and the illusory innocence of childhood.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: A Must Read
Comment: I loved this book. I thought about the characters a lot while reading and it was not an easy decision on whom to root for. I think a good fantasy story makes you wonder just a little bit if there's maybe any truth to it at all and this book did that for me. It was fun to suspend my disbelief for a while. At times, the story was scary in a fantastic way. I highly recommend this book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Wonderful story.
Comment: The Stolen Child is a magical and wonderful story. It's fascinating to read of the lives of the two switched boys and how each are driven in the end to find out about the other. I loved it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Stolen Child Steals You Away..
Comment: I knew very little about the "changeling" myth & fairies to me were like Tinkerbell with her cute little wings,etc. The "faeries" in this book are about as far away as Disney as you can possibly get, as described by Henry Day ,a perfectly normal 7 year old boy who is stolen by them and replaced with a "changeling" aka one who changes both his physical appearance as well as personality so he can take the child's place without any suspicion being aroused. The creatures who capture him are a grubby,eccentric lot,in short old people trapped in endlessly child-like bodies,each with their own distinctive personality. The chapters alternate between the real Henry Day(The stolen child of the title)who is "christened" Aniday and his doppelganger a very old,musically gifted changeling(which surprises his parents as the real boy never showed any talent for music) who takes his place. Each has they're own memories to contend with ad well as a adapting to their new lives.eventually leading to both trying to figure out who they really are. Meanwhile The other changelings patiently wait their turn to steal a child and take his or her place,but as suburbia encroaches on their haven in the woods.it becomes more and more difficult. The story is told in such a realistic way that the makes the story both believable and plausible,as well as fascinating. I felt kind if sad when the book ended but was satisfied with the ending. For fans of fantasy or those who don't like "fairy stories" I recommend this book to both..
Customer Rating:
Summary: Liked it, didn't love it.
Comment: Idle question: why do so many novels add a subtitle with the words "A Novel". Are they so worried that it will be mistaken for memoir? Non-fiction? Pulp fiction? What does that appendage in a title actually mean?
Anyhow, about the Donohue. This is a book that I enjoyed rather more when I was in the act of reading then I did when I was done and considering the whole experience. This is a strange phenomenon, and can just as easily work the other way around.
There are certainly *parts* I really enjoyed. Donohue has a mean skill for revitalizing worn-out myth, and I was very pleased that it wasn't Yet Another romanticization of faerie. Actually, there wasn't anything particularly bad that I can really put my finger on. There was quite a bit of good, there somehow just wasn't enough good to make it particularly memorable. I liked it. I don't have any desire to keep it. I think that probably I am going to give it to a coworker who will appreciate it a good bit more than I did.
The Stolen Child asks the question what if changelings really exist? What if those ragged children that you sometimes see playing in the woods from the road are something other than local kids grubby from a long day of playing? If they are real, then what do they do? How does it work? These questions are explored by contrasting the experience of two children: a changeling who is taken into a human family and a human boy who becomes an unwilling changeling.
The characters are also not really a weakness-- Donohue does a good job of writing these two (quite difficult, I think) points of view. He also shows how change and inevitable encroachment is effecting the changeling way of life, and not for the better. There is honestly a lot to like about the novel.
And, to be fair to myself, I did like it. I just didn't love it, and I'm wondering why. Nearly my sweet spot, but not quite. But it is still a good book, and your mileage may vary.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Blew my mind
Comment: I should start by saying that I stopped writing reviews for Amazon a few years ago (not that I ever wrote THAT many to begin with...) on the idea of "who benefits from this?", and deciding not to enhance corporate profits without getting paid for it. That said, I feel compelled to speak out about this book. Simply put - I loved it.
I read several books each year as a user of public transportation, and this book really stands out above the rest. As a fan of science fiction and fantasy, I can say with certainty that this book stands out as fresh and new as compared to most of the mediocre novels getting published. I had never heard of changelings before I read this book, and the mythology that the author delves into is completely enthralling.
What makes this book even better, however, is the extent to which I came to sympathize with BOTH lead characters, and too feel the pain that they were feeling. It is this mix of the introduction of an entirely new (to me, anyway) fantasy subgenre and the poignant story telling that really created a reading experience that made an impression, and one that is likely to last. It's one of the few books I have read in the past five years that I believe has a shot at standing the test of time. To get published at all in an accomplishment. To write something that brings people joy is commendable and enviable. To do what Donohue did here is astounding.
If you are a fan of fantasy and are looking for a new spin on the genre, or even if you're not, and are tired of reading the same old crime drama, mysteries or whatever, I strongly recommend that you give "The Stolen Child" a shot. You'll likely come away feeling refreshed and, most importantly, thinking about things. It's rare that a book can have that effect. Bravo, Mr. Donohue.
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