Changeling, and Other Stories

A little about the story

Donn Byrne gathers stories that move between Irish lives, urban encounters, historical settings, and the imaginative possibilities of storytelling itself. The title story begins in the atmosphere surrounding a New York murder case, where public judgment and private history do not necessarily fit together comfortably. Elsewhere, very different characters confront the force of attachment, reputation, ambition, or memories that refuse to remain safely in the past.

This is a collection to read for its changes of setting and voice as much as for any single connecting theme. Byrne can give a story the intimacy of a remembered anecdote, then turn toward a more elaborate or distant world without abandoning his interest in human motives. The contents mix recognizable social situations with settings that invite romance and invention, allowing the reader to compare different kinds of loyalty and self-deception. Individual stories stand on their own, while the volume as a whole offers a varied introduction to a writer interested in how people transform experience into a tale worth repeating.

Things You May Not Know About Changeling, and Other Stories

• Thirteen separate stories. The collection contains thirteen stories, including Barnacle Goose, The Keeper of the Bridge, Reynardine, Irish, and By Ordeal of Justice.
• A New York opening. The title story begins around a murder prosecution in New York, placing the reader among spectators, legal proceedings, and competing interpretations.
• A playful dedication. The opening dedication takes the form of a conversation with an old poet, turning the business of acknowledgments into a small performance.
• Settings range widely. Titles and settings extend beyond Ireland to imagined encounters with ancient Thebes and China, emphasizing the collection’s geographical and historical variety.
• A 1923 collection. The title page identifies the Century Company of New York and London as publisher, with the volume appearing in 1923.