The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’ve been fascinated by changelings since I was little, and I was immediately interested to see a mainstream adult book about them. (Usually you only see changelings in young adult novels.) It was an absorbing read, bouncing back and forth between Henry Day, the former changeling in a new body, and Aniday, the former boy in a changeling’s body. The book picks up in the late 40s, the day the boy and the changeling switch, and goes back and forth between their points of view. It’s fascinating to watch the changeling slowly becoming more and more human, and vice versa. What adds more depth to the story is the revelation that Henry, before he was Henry and before he was a changeling, was a totally different child. Watching the pieces slowly fall into place make the book a pleasure to read. The pacing is languid and steady, and picks up to nearly frantic as Henry (now an adult) and Aniday (still a child, but one who has lived for twenty extra years) come closer and closer to interacting with each other. All in all, the book is an unexpected, bittersweet take on changeling lore and I will definitely want to read it again.
The Metaphor Girl 