Feeling ignored and tired of his infant twin sisters getting all of the attention, young Henry Day decided to run away one day in the 1940's. Henry never returned home; in fact, he ceased to exist, but no one noticed. Why? Henry was abducted by the hobgoblins who lived in the nearby forest and a changeling was left in his place--a changeling who had been studying everything about Henry and knew how to mimic him so perfectly that no one could tell the difference. The Stolen Child follows the boy and the changeling for the next 30 to 40 years and tells their story in alternating first person narratives that, in the beginning, are a little confusing, but rightly so as both children are confused about their identities as they each adapt to their new world. Their lives run parallel to one another and occasionally intersect to disastrous results. A friend of mine described this book as "melancholy," and I think that's the perfect adjective to sum up my feelings after reading this book. For one, the changelings are not villains. They are all children who had their lives stolen from them and are now biding their time until they can reclaim what was forcefully and brutally taken from them. As a result, I feel sorry for both Aniday (the name given to Henry after he becomes one of the changelings) and Gustav (the changeling who takes Henry's place). Often in a fantasy, you get the joy of hating the evil-doer or the monster lurking in the dark, but here the evil is something nebulous and never clearly defined. I think this is partially due to the allegorical nature of the plot. In a sense, life is the monster in that it's a force of nature that can't be stopped or reasoned with. For each of us, our childhood must eventually end and, as children, we often can't wait to grow up and find out who and what we'll be. To do so, we have to cut ourselves away from the child we were so that we can embrace the adult we'll become. We leave a "changeling"--a collection of memories, childish desires, and emotions that revisit us throughout our lives, but the child version of ourselves is like a stranger we once knew. Also, as we get older, many of us look back on the innocence of childhood with a sense of nostalgia and think, if only upon occasion, "if only I could go back" or "wouldn't it be great to be a child forever?" The answer provided by Donohue is no; that the romantic view of childhood is just that--the tinge of rose-colored glasses. The changelings are not The Wild Boys; sure they are given to fun, frivolity, and mischief, but theirs is not a life to be envied. It is a constant struggle for survival against the harsh elements and the encroachment of man as civilization and suburbia threaten the wilderness where they are able to secret themselves away. They long to grow up and are trapped in tiny bodies while their emotional and mental maturity continues, unimpeded. They wait and they yearn and they think about all they will never have and all they will never be.In presenting the changeling myth for modern times, Donohue has given us a haunting and beautiful examination of childhood and the search for identity. And he has done so in humanity’s most enduring medium: that of myth. Cross posted at This Insignificant Cinder and at Shelf Inflicted
An alternate coming-of-age novel, The Stolen Child is a fairy tale for adults. Henry Day runs away at a young age and finds himself abducted by hobgoblins in the woods near his home. In his place returns a changeling, one of the hobgoblins who has waited his turn for centuries in order to live as a real child, to grow up. Henry Day, in the meantime, is brought into the hobgoblins' world and becomes one of them. The stories of the real Henry-Day-turned-hobgoblin (renamed Aniday) and hobgoblin-turned-Henry-Day are intertwined as the two search for their true identities in their new lives. As time passes and each discover friendship and love, they grow closer to finding out their true natures and risk destroying what each of them have come to know as reality.Possibly one of the best books I have read recently. For a debut novel I am highly impressed. It seems Donohue had this story rattling around upstairs for quite some time and spent considerablt time working the fine details. His characters are well-rounded and easily accessible. By nature it is hard to imagine a group of hobgoblins as being interesting or sympathetic characters, but Donohue manages this beautifully. Aniday is unable to lose the empathy of a human child, and his friendship with little Speck is truly adorable. Mirrored in the humans, the grown-up Henry Day falls in love with Tess and their relationship is equally endearing. As their relationship grows and they bring a child of their own into the world, Henry Day is overcome with memories of his background, prior to becoming a hobgoblin himself, and his life is consumed with fear of his former friends coming after his new-born son.The story brings to light the passage of time, how perspectives change from childhood to adulthood, how mystery and magic can still live around every corner if one just keeps one's eyes fixed, and (on a personal level) how awesome it would be to hide beneath a library and read all of the books unbeknownst to the regular patrons.Of note: The author lived his early years in Pittsburgh before moving to Maryland - there are local references throughout the book, and even a jaunt to what was still considered Czechoslovakia. All in all a completely perfect read for me.
What do You think about The Stolen Child (2006)?
Taking of from Yeats' haunting poem "The Stolen Child," Donohue creates a tale of a child who is stolen by hobgoblins. The hobgoblins are other children who have been stolen from their families and must live in a pack in the woods until they can find other children whose lives they steal. The book tells the stories of both a boy who has just been kidnapped and the hobgoblin boy who substitutes himself for the stolen boy. The book is unique and fascinating. It certainly makes life outside human society sound very unappealing.
—Carol Douglas
I hope that Donohue writes more novels after this one because if they are as unique and well-written as The Stolen Child I will be first in line to read them. With The Stolen Child being his first novel Donohue definitely does not burst quietly on to the scene. The only problem he may encounter for any future novels is that he now has set the bar pretty high for himself now. A problem not uncommon in the writing world.What drew me to this book was the unique storyline and I was not disappointed. Plot, characters, writing, you name it, were all fully developed and interesting. You find yourself drawn to both Henry's and liking them both equally, which was another thing I liked about the book, it didn't force you to choose one over the other.At times the book did drag a bit, parts seemingly forced in to create a bridge between plot points or something. At least those bits weren't that long and I still wanted to continue reading.The most remarkable thing about the novel were the changelings themselves. Trapped in the unaging bodies of children, they often act like kids, mischeivous, playful, but they also spoke and acted like adults, conversing sometimes like a group of people you would expect to find in wheelchairs at a nearby rest home. The combination was perfect, never seemed forced and always believable. Had it not been that way, I think the novel would have been awful.But it wasn't, so yay! It was a good read. If you like folk lore and Lord of the Flies you'll more than likely like this book. Even if you don't like either I'd still suggest checking this book out, you may surprise yourself.
—Sammy
Este livro conta a história de uma criança roubada. Henry Day que um dia foge de casa é raptado por trasgos (nao gosto do nome bah) que são umas fadas, uns seres fantásticos, que roubam a vida desta e de tantas outras crianças para viverem no lugar delas. Henry Day é uma dessas crianças que tem sua vida roubada e é rapidamente baptizado de Aniday.O livro é contado de dois diferentes pontos de vista, Henry Day, o trasgo que assumiu o corpo da criança roubada e conta o seu dia-a-dia, agora numa nova família, vivendo no nosso mundo actual e o de Aniday que passa a viver com os outros seres que tentam voltar à vida humana, através de outras crianças.O livro, por tratar de duas crianças, tem uma história infantil, mas o tom é de gente adulta. É uma viagem pela procura da identidade, pelo passado que não pode ser esquecido, pelo voltar às nossas origens e a luta pela liberdade. Gostei mas sinceramente o que acontece neste livro não deixa de ser um rapto e eu não gostei muito do tema abordado.
—Mafi
