REVIEW: The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue

The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue
Publishing Information: 2006 (first publishing) 2007 (current edition)
Publisher: First Anchor, Paperback
ISBN-13: 978-1-4000-9653-4
Series: Standalone
Reviewer: Andy
Copy: Out of Pocket

Synopsis: (from back cover): 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, untagging 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 intersect, driven by their obsessive search for who they were before they changed places in the world.

Changelings, for those who aren't up to scratch on their medieval folklore, are mythical creatures that discreetly trade places with human children, usually unbeknownst to the child's family. The genuine child is stolen and the fairy child lives in place of the infant. The really frightening part of this myth, is not the worry that that these fairy tales might be true, but rather that historically human beings used the stories to deny that their genuine mentally handicapped or autistic children were actually their own. This psychological component was what really fascinated me about the changeling myth, and I was hoping that The Stolen Child by Keith Donahoe would not be afraid to touch on such sensitive subjects.

The book does mention a few cases early on of adults noticing their children were actually changelings by noticing some deficiency or shortcoming in the child, usually due to some forgetfulness or mental error on the changeling's part. The changelings in the book however, are not handicapped replacements for stolen children, but rather blurry shapeshifters who were once stolen as human children themselves. How an ordinary child becomes a shapeshifter remains a mystery but since this is often described as a "modern fairy tale", I am content to let some mysterious magical forces remain mysterious.

By avoiding the issue of handicapped children, Donohue kept what could have been a very very dark tale a merely moderately dark tale, and escaped writing what may have been a mildly offensive novel otherwise. Instead what is interesting about The Stolen Child is its setting - it takes place in the U.S. in the 50's and 60's - based around a Cold War era nuclear family, a setting that is popularized through television as far ranging as Mad Men and the Wonder Years. However, The Stolen Child is more of the Wonder Years than anything else, as its primarily a coming-of-age story, told through dual protagonists. One protagonist is a changeling who replaces a seven-year-old boy and must hide his secret identity, while the other is the original boy, cast away to live in the woods amongst the other changelings. These dual protagonists complement each other nicely, as one becomes an imposter with the nagging concern that his secret may be revealed, while the other remains an outsider looking into a society in which he can no longer take part.

The irony of the story lies in the fact that Henry Day's biggest challenges are not due to his secret fairy identity, but rather that he must suffer growing pains common to every teenage boy. This is when The Stolen Child really shines - when it uses the themes of identity and metamorphosis to its advantage by exhibiting that these are not concerns unique to changelings, but anyone who is subjected to the human condition. But sadly, The Stolen Child fails at times too - in its resolution it lacks the substance to explain the purpose of these cruel kidnappings of children. In its reluctance to reveal its own mysteries, The Stolen Child ends up coming off shallow and I was left wondering why the characters play this cruel game at all. Don't get me wrong though - the book has style - its nostalgic memoir-shaped first-person narrative was initially exciting and promising. Early on, it often read like it was written for a Tim Burton film adaptation. However, in the end it just feels a bit empty and the product of an author whose only inspiration was to write a book about changelings. Still, I can imagine a lot of other people I know enjoying this book more than I did, and I would not hesitate to recommend it to fans of Neil Gaiman or Clive Barker, or those simply intrigued by the changeling myth.



Plot……….6/ 10

Characters………5/10

Style………..7/10

Overall……….6/10