The Stolen Child

By: Keith Donohue

Narrated by: Andy Paris, Jeff Woodman

Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

This critically acclaimed debut by breakout author Keith Donohue flawlessly blends fantasy and realism into an utterly unique fable, inspired by a W.B. Yeats poem, that has been described as a bedtime story for adults.

Seven-year-old Henry Day is kidnapped and renamed "Aniday" by changelings, ageless beings who inhabit the woods near his home. The changelings also leave behind one of their own, who flawlessly impersonates Henry except for one noteworthy detail: the new Henry is a prodigiously talented pianist. Both Aniday and Henry settle comfortably enough into their new existences, but both are haunted by vague memories of their former lives.

A fresh take on the search for identity that will appeal to fans of J.R.R. Tolkien and J.M. Barrie, The Stolen Child triumphantly announces Donohue as a fresh voice in contemporary fiction.

©2006 Keith Donohue (P)2006 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

• Winner of Audio Publishers Association 2007 Audie Award, Science Fiction

"An impressive novel of outsiders whose feelings of alienation are more natural than supernatural." (Publishers Weekly)

agonizing listen

I am a big fan of the fantasy genre. The publisher's comparison to Tolkien was wishful thinking. I found the plot an interesting concept, but listening was arduous. I did want to know how the story ended, but each additional chapter caused me to groan anew, "Will it never end?"

absolutely engrossing

I am not a fantasy fiction fan. In fact I had looked at this book and passed it up once or twice because I assumed it would be fantasy to the point that I could not suspend disbelief. This novel takes an idea idea out of a fairy tale and then totally grounds it in reality. I couldn't stop listening, and believing these changelings were really out there. Excellent book.

best book ever

I loved the book it was so good I hope that a second book is made I liked aniday he was varey good

Good (not great) story

I am only giving this story three stars because I did not love it and I did not hate it, I was sort of in the middle. I love fantasy books and was really excited to listen to this book, but it did not live up to my expectations. For me, the story of the changelings living in the forest and the power struggles that existed in their community was the most interesting part of the story. Henry Day's story was rather dull and got more interesting as he began to explore his history (pre-changeling). I thought the narrators were good, even though it was hard to distinguish their voices.

Loved It!

It's hard to explain the premise of this book - but what a wonderful story! I was completely drawn in within the first few minutes and could not stop listening. This book is wonderfully read, the story moves along nicely and certainly makes you wonder about "life & death". I highly recommend this book even if (like me) you're not a big fantasy/science fiction fan.

Will steal you away!

The story follows the interconnected lives of the main characters by alternating between each of their versions of events. It's very interesting to get to see the same story from two viewpoints. The author had me hooked immediately, and this is one of the few books I couldn't just listen to in the car only.

Excellent Listen

This is one of those... if you could only download one audio book... books.

It's important to note that this book seems to transcend genres... in a way crossing elements of the book "Peter Pan" and many other pseudo-fantasy novels with strong notes of Americana like the film "Stand By Me" or the Wonder Years... it truly is a great summer read, or listen in this case.

The narration is nothing short of excellence; Unlike some downloads that I've found here where the narration is awkward or the story ill suited to be read aloud, this book seems to have been written for the spoken word, much like Orson Scott Card's book "Ender's Game"... and naturally the dual narration is perfect for the dual narrative form of the story.

The Stolen Child was an easy, yet engaging listen that you'll probably breeze through over the course of a week, as it's a "pageturner" and you'll want to sneak in every minute of the day that you can to listen to it... I don't listen or read to many books more than once, but I'm sure that I'll be returning to this one in a year or so and will definitely pass it on to my kids when they're old enough and adult friends alike.

Got us hooked, but then a bit protracted..

My family ( 3 boys- 11,9, 7)and my wife just listened to it on our drive to and from vacation. The sample on the Audible website got us hooked. We all felt that it was a really interesting story line and had never read or listened to anything like it. However, towards the end of the book, it became a bit longwinded and took away from the initial excitement that we had. For the younger listeners, there were some 'adult' passages (first sexual experience for example) and we just fast forwarded through those parts. Only a few "bad" words were heard.
I would recommend this to family and friends that like this particular genre.

Disappointed

The idea of the book was very intrigueing. This is the type of story I like - fantasy. Unfortunately, the book was disappointing. I got bored. I am not sure if anything actually happened in the book.....

A premise unfulfilled

What a great idea - - the concept of this book is wonderful - - the execution, not so much. The book plodded along without much happening but keeping just interesting enough for me not to be able to unplug and walk away. I did like the concept of two narrators, but their voices were so similar it was difficult to be able to tell when we had switched characters. A classic example of substance over style.