The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue – Review & Giveaway

About The Stolen Child

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.

My Review

I KNOW that I am in the minority but I really couldn’t get into this book. I mean I COULD NOT. I read over 100 pages and I just didn’t feel that the story grabbed me. I follow a rule about how much of a book I read before I put it down and I even went farther with this one. Why? Because it has gotten so many good reviews and I felt like I should give it a chance.

The premise of the story is great – a “changeling” or hobgoblin swaps lives with a 7 year old boy. Swap isn’t really the right word as the boy is stolen and the hobgoblin takes his place. The narrator tells the story alternating between the “new Henry Day” and Aniday, the name the hobgoblins have given the the new boy.

I felt that the writing was fine, I just thought the plot lacked the umph it needed.

Have you read it? I’d love to know your thoughts.

Giveaway Details

I have decided that I am no longer keeping books that I won’t read again or are paperback. This is both. It is a large paperback if that makes any sense. This giveaway will end on Sunday so hurry up. Here is how to enter:

+1 entry for leaving a comment
+1 entry for tweeting about it (leave link please)
+1 entry for posting about it on any other social blogs (leave link for each)
+10 for blogging about it (leave link)

Good luck!

Have a great Tuesday!

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