Keith Donohue Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR: Susan Coffey
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| Review Summary |
Henry Day is 7 years old when he runs away into the woods near his home. He's kidnapped by the fairies who live in the woods, and a fairy “changeling” is put in his place. Henry is newly named “Aniday” by the fairies, and the changeling is successful in convincing all but his new father that he is “Henry.”
The fairies or “hobgoblins” are essentially a feral band of orphans living by whatever they can find edible in the woods, and stealing from the town. Aniday longs to go back to his life and his family, but he does not clearly remember who or where they are. The fairies discourage remembering because there is no going back. In fact, Aniday is severely beaten when he by chance, comes face to face with his actual father. His life as a fairy is made bearable by trips to the library at night. The fairies snitch books, and read them in the library's crawl space. He works to maintain his writing skills with stolen bits of paper and pencils. He writes down all he can remember of his former life, and what is happening to him now. He grows close to Speck, a girl fairy.
The changeling Henry Day's family is surprised when he suddenly has musical ability. His mother strongly encourages this while it makes his father suspicious. Still, Henry is provided with music lessons, and then a piano. It's an ever present effort to act the way the real Henry would, and to force his body to grow and age. Henry is racked by guilt about the child stolen away so that he could have a chance to be human again. Now that he has a human life, he is fearful of running into the fairies that he now loathes. He strives to remember the child he was over 100 years earlier when he was first stolen by the fairies. He recalls snatches of German, the voice of his father, and a piano in a Victorian parlor. He eventually marries, and longs to tell his wife who he really is, but he is too afraid she will reject him. They have a little boy named Edward. Henry lives in fear that his own child will be in turn stolen by the fairies.
Henry with his investigating, eventually finds out the details of who he was before he was first stolen. It makes him even more confused about the right and wrong of the fairies' stealing of children in order to get a human life of their own. Aniday and Henry both feel a need to sort out their feelings, Henry through a symphony for his wife, and Aniday through a book for Speck who has left the fairy community. The two characters are both drawn and repelled by the proximity of the other..
This book was inspired by the poem the Stolen Child by Yeats. In this book, the human world and the fairy world are both “full of weeping,” however both main characters find the way to make sense of their experience.
Susan Coffey, Resident Scholar
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 10%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 20%
Tone of book
- sensitive (sigh....)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION?
- part earth & part fantasy world
Inner Struggle
Yes
Plotlet:
- search for identity/new understanding
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Cultural problems, alien culture
Yes
Culture clash-
- feelings of a human growing up among aliens
Family relations
Yes
Intense exploration of society's culture?
Yes
Main Character
Identity:
- magical being
Profession/status:
- musician
Age:
- 20's-30's
Has magical/special powers?
Yes
Magical/mental powers of main character:
- can change shapes
How sensitive is this character?
- soggy whimpering jelly muffin
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 20's-30's
Profession/status:
- thief/con artist
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- an above average amount
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Setting
Terrain
- Forests
Earth setting:
- 20th century
Takes place on Earth?
Yes
Style
Person?
- mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references only
- descript of kissing
- description of breasts
- descript. of private male anat.
How much dialogue?
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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