Welcome back to Books With Cause. Happy New Year, one and all. Let’s dive straight into my next review.
I don’t generally buy into the “New Year, new me” stuff. I’m not the kind of person who makes resolutions or anything like that. However, I did think that a new year is a good excuse to start off with some authors that are new to me. Authors whose work I’d never read before. Up first is Victor LaValle, and this book, The Changeling, came my way after winning a poll on Goodreads’ Horror Aficionados.
Apollo Kagwa is the only son of Lillian Kagwa and Brian West. Brian mysteriously disappears when Apollo is four years old, never to be seen again. Years later, Apollo works as a rare book trader. It’s during this time that he falls in love with a librarian named Emma Valentine. The two marry and have a son. Apollo names him Brian after his father. It’s around this time that Apollo happens upon a first edition of To Kill a Mockingbird, signed by Harper Lee. Even though Harper Lee is still alive, Apollo realises that the book is highly valuable. Enough to set him and his family up for a while if he finds the right buyer.
Emma doesn’t take to parenthood the same way as Apollo. In fact, she doesn’t think their son is really a baby at all. She believes their son is a changeling and must be killed. This leads to a major fight between Apollo and Emma, which ends with Apollo getting knocked unconscious. When Apollo comes to, both Emma and Brian are gone. Apollo has no idea where to find his wife and/or son. But one person does have some information. The same person who’s interested in buying the Mockingbird book.
This is a rather strange book. It starts off like a contemporary horror novel but gently transforms into something akin to a fairy tale. I suppose it makes sense as fairy tales are among the oldest forms of horror stories. Parents use them to entertain their children with mild terror, but of course, there are darker versions of all the classics, whether that’s Cinderella, Goldilocks, or Hansel and Gretel. I’m not about to tell you that Apollo wanders into the gingerbread house. Not in the literal sense at least.
For my first venture into LaValle’s work, this wasn’t a book that blew me away. I enjoyed it enough, but I thought the blurb and the premise gripped me more than the book actually delivered. But that’s just the humble opinion of this reader. That said, there’s enough in here that I would take a chance on a Victor LaValle book again.
My Goodreads rating: ★★★☆☆ (3 stars)
