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    The Changeling: A Novel
    Unavailable
    The Changeling: A Novel
    Unavailable
    The Changeling: A Novel
    Audiobook14 hours

    The Changeling: A Novel

    Published by Penguin Random House Audio

    4.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    “If the literary gods mixed together Haruki Murakami and Ralph Ellison, the result would be Victor LaValle.”—Anthony Doerr, author of All the Light We Cannot See

    “A dark fairy tale of New York, full of magic and loss, myth and mystery, love and madness. The Changeling is a mesmerizing, monumental work.”—Marlon James, author of A Brief History of Seven Killings

    A summer reading pick by The New York Times • O: The Oprah Magazine • Vulture • PopSugar • Publishers Weekly

    When Apollo Kagwa’s father disappeared, all he left his son were strange recurring dreams and a box of books stamped with the word IMPROBABILIA. Now Apollo is a father himself—and as he and his wife, Emma, are settling into their new lives as parents, exhaustion and anxiety start to take their toll. Apollo’s old dreams return and Emma begins acting odd. Irritable and disconnected from their new baby boy, at first Emma seems to be exhibiting signs of postpartum depression, but it quickly becomes clear that her troubles go even deeper. Before Apollo can do anything to help, Emma commits a horrific act—beyond any parent’s comprehension—and vanishes, seemingly into thin air.

    Thus begins Apollo’s odyssey through a world he only thought he understood, to find a wife and child who are nothing like he’d imagined. His quest, which begins when he meets a mysterious stranger who claims to have information about Emma’s whereabouts, takes him to a forgotten island, a graveyard full of secrets, a forest where immigrant legends still live, and finally back to a place he thought he had lost forever.

    This captivating retelling of a classic fairy tale imaginatively explores parental obsession, spousal love, and the secrets that make strangers out of the people we love the most. It’s a thrilling and emotionally devastating journey through the gruesome legacies that threaten to devour us and the homely, messy magic that saves us, if we’re lucky.

    Praise for The Changeling

    “Fans of the macabre can’t miss the latest offering from prolific horror master Victor LaValle, which hurls us into the most harrowing abyss imaginable: parenthood. . . . Definitely scarier than anything you’ll hear around the campfire.”—Vulture

    “Like a good Coen brothers film, this genre-defying, achingly literate phantasmagoria of a novel will work every nook and cranny of the imagination, taking the reader to places we’re either too afraid to visit or never knew existed.”—Paul Beatty, author of The Sellout

    “Absolutely compelling, completely thrilling, The Changeling overflows with menace, wonder, and beauty.”—Kelly Link, author of Get in Trouble

    “This year, the most unsettling novel I read, the scariest novel I read, and the most beautiful novel I read were all the same one—Victor LaValle’s The Changeling. A father who loses his wife and child in an act of horror must hunt them into metaphorical hell to get them back again. This story feels less written, than channeled. I say this without exaggeration: It’s a masterpiece.”—Mat Johnson, author of Pym and Loving Day

    “LaValle has a knack for blending social realism with genre tropes, and this blend of horror story and fatherhood fable is surprising and admirably controlled. . . . LaValle has successfully delivered a tale of wonder and thoughtful exploration of what it means to be a parent. A smart and knotty merger of horror, fantasy, and realism.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJun 13, 2017
    ISBN9781524722555
    Unavailable
    The Changeling: A Novel

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    Reviews for The Changeling

    4.5/5

    55 ratings6 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Wow! This book was so well written. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m not really into fantasy but I don’t think this went so far out there. There were times that it felt a little disconnected but it always came back around. I listened to the audio book read by the author and loved it. He has a fantastic voice. Very soothing but didn’t put me to sleep. I love when author’s read their own books, it gives it a special feel since they know the book from the inside out they know how exactly to read it aloud. I will be finding more titles by him.
    • 5/5
      WOW. Excellent tapestry blending the archetype of folklore with the modern boogeyman with layers of humor and horror and human woven in expertly.

      I wonder if the Sarah Jaffe producer is the same Sarah Jaffe singer-songwriter from Texas?
    • 5/5
      This I believe is the best book I have read all year. I can’t express how much I love it. It combines modern social media and modern problems with old world fairy tales and the plight of a modern family just trying to hold everything together. It reminds me of American Gods but much more personal

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      At first I was bored with it. Like, boring. Then it started to get interesting. Then it got annoying and stupid. Like, reaching. Then it got interesting again. Like, maybe there's hope for this book. I had no idea where it was going the whole time and by the time I did it was over and I have a bunch of questions but I'm not going to reread it because: see the first three sentences. The book is weirder than it lets on so that's good.
    • 5/5
      What a fascinating tale! Victor LaValle has written a modern day fairytale in the old tradition of original fairytales: dark fables inappropriate for children. This richly layered work of fiction explores companionship and partnership, love and marriage, racial bias and inequality, the pathos of fatherless men, the magical fierceness of parenthood, and last but far from least: New York City. This story will haunt me - in the best way - for a long time. Amazing read.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 3/5
      I liked the idea of the story but the intro was way too wordy and boring and many scenes had a lot of irrelevant descriptions.