The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue

The Stolen Child is a classic tale of leaving childhood and the search for identity.
Stolen from his family by changelings, Henry Day is given the name "Aniday" by the ageless magical beings, who replace him with another child who takes his place with his parents, a young boy who posesses an extraordinary gift of music.

About the author:
(from the Novelist book discussion guide)

Donohue had many childhood experiences in the forests and swamplands surrounding the tiny Maryland town where his family lived from the mid-1960s.
Donohue returned to his native Pittsburgh for college, earning a degree from Duquesne University in 1984. He was already a writer, paying his way through college with two creative writing grants. After graduating, he returned to the Washington, DC, area to take a job at the National Endowment for the Arts; his thirteen-year tenure there, as a speechwriter to three directors and as a Director of Publications, would coincide with the height of the culture wars. In his off hours, Donohue continued to write fiction, placing short stories in small journals, and pursued his doctorate, earning a Ph.D. in English from the Catholic University of America in 2002.

Questions for discussion:

What is the purpose of the pseudo-scientific discussion of fairies, hobgoblins, and changelings that opens the novel?

What does the novel seem to be saying about children and childhood?

What is the role of memory in The Stolen Child?

What do Aniday's writing, Henry Day's music, and Speck's map share?

How are Henry Day's and Aniday's lives linked?

How is Henry Day's childhood different from other children's?

Is The Stolen Child a "fairy tale for adults," as some reviewers have called it?

Did you like the book? What did you like or dislike about it most?