The Changeling

A Novel

By: Victor LaValle

Narrated by: Victor LaValle

“[This] haunting tale weaves a mesmerizing web around fatherhood, racism, horrific anxieties and even To Kill a Mockingbird. And the backdrop for this rich phantasmagoria? The boroughs of New York.” (The New York Times)

Winner of an American Book Award, a Locus Award for Best Horror Novel, a British Fantasy Award for Best Horror Novel, and a World Fantasy Award for Best Novel.

Nominated for a Shirley Jackson Award, an International Dublin Literary Award, and a Mythopoeic Award for Literature.

When Apollo Kagwa's father disappeared, he left his son a box of books and strange recurring dreams. Now, Apollo is a father himself - and as he and his wife, Emma, settle into their new lives as parents, exhaustion and anxiety start to take their toll. Apollo's old dreams return, and Emma begins acting odd. At first, Emma seems to be exhibiting signs of postpartum depression. But before Apollo can do anything to help, Emma commits a horrific act and vanishes. Thus begins Apollo’s quest to find a wife and child who are nothing like he'd imagined. His odyssey 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.

Named One of Paste’s Best Horror Books of the Decade • Named One of the Best Books of the Year by The New York Times • USA Today • The New York Public Library • NPR • BuzzFeed • Kirkus Reviews • Book Riot

“The thriller you won’t be able to put down.” (O: The Oprah Magazine)

“By turns enchanting, infuriating, horrifying, and heartbreaking, The Changeling is never less than completely engaging.” (NPR)

“Strange and wonderful.” (The New York Times)

“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] bewitching masterpiece.... Like a woke Brothers Grimm, his clever new spin on the ages-old changeling myth is a modern fairy tale for the Trump era, taking on fatherhood, parenting, marriage, immigration, race and terrifying loss.” (USA Today)

“Intense, riveting.... The story is a long, slow burn with a lingering sizzle.” (Los Angeles Review of Books)

“A modern-day tale of terror rooted in ancient myth and folklore, brimming with magical revelation and emotional truth.” (San Francisco Chronicle)

©2017 Victor LaValle (P)2017 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"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)

"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)