The Changeling (Joy Williams novel)

Last updated
The Changeling
AuthorJoy Williams
Genre
Fiction / Fantasy /
Dark Fantasy
Set inFlorida, United States
Published1978, 2008, 2018
Publisher
Doubleday,
Fairy Tale Review Press,, Tin House
Publication placeUnited States
Media typeHardcover, Paperback, E-book
Pages336
ISBN 9781941040898
OCLC 990288649
Website
Tin House


The Changeling is a dark fantasy and fairy tale novel by Joy Williams published in 1978 by Doubleday. [1] [2] It was reprinted in a fortieth anniversary edition by Tin House Books with a introduction by Karen Russell. [3] [4] [5] [6] It was also previously republished in 2008 by Fairy Tale Review Press as its 30th anniversary edition with a new preface by Rick Moody. [7]

Contents

Plot

The novel opens with Pearl & her infant son, Sam, at a bar in Florida, fleeing her husband, Walker, and his wealthy family who reside on a remote island off the eastern seaboard of the United States. [2] Her husband finds her in the bar & takes her & the child to the Miami airport so they can fly back to their island. The writer Tobias Carroll sums up the plot as ". . . a young woman marries the scion of a wealthy family, attempts to escape, and, after a tragic event, loses her sense of self under the controlling sway of the aforementioned family — as well as copious amounts of alcohol." [3]

References

  1. ↑ "Books of The Times New Joy Williams Novel (Published 1978)". 1978-06-03. Archived from the original on 2025-01-25. Retrieved 2026-01-13.
  2. 1 2 Staff Review: "THE CHANGELING." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Feb. 2018. Gale Academic OneFile, Gale   A527248309 Accessed July 15, 2026.
  3. 1 2 Carroll, Tobias (2018-04-10). "In Praise of Joy Williams's Tarnished Novel, 'The Changeling'". Chicago Review of Books. Retrieved 2026-01-13.
  4. ↑ Jennings, Hope (January 23, 2020). "Hope Jennings on Joy illiams's The Changeling". The Rambling. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
  5. ↑ Neugebauer, Samantha (2024). "'Storied Matter' & the Human Response in: Joy Williams's the Changeling and Samantha Hunt's the Seas". Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction. 65 (3): 393–406. doi:10.1080/00111619.2023.2195997.
  6. ↑ Brown, Rosellen (1999). "Rosellen Brown Discovers Joy Williams". The Women's Review of Books. 16 (10/11): 33. doi:10.2307/4023248. JSTOR   4023248.
  7. ↑ Garner, Dwight (April 21, 2008). "Joy Williams's 30-Year-Old Comeback Novel". Arts Beat. The New York Times. Retrieved January 16, 2026.

Further reading

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