The Changeling

by Alison MacLeod

A historical novel explores the exciting and passionate life and times of Anne Bonny, a cross-dressing pirate, as she sails the high seas finding adventure, challenging sexual stereotypes, and seeking to preserve her disguise.

Genres: Fiction

324 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1996

About the author

Alison MacLeod is a novelist and short story writer. Her latest novel is TENDERNESS (2021/22), a Book of the Year for The New York Times, The Spectator, and The Hindustan Times. and a Best Paperback of 2022 for the Sunday Times. Her novel UNEXPLODED was long-listed for the Man-Booker Prize for Fiction, adapted for BBC Radio 4, and named one of the Observer‘s ‘Books of the Year’. Her short story collection ALL THE BELOVED GHOSTS was shortlisted for The Edge Hill Prize for best story collection in the UK and Ireland. It was a 'Best Book of 2017' for the Guardian, and a finalist for Canada’s 2017 Governor General’s Award for Fiction.

MacLeod was born in Montreal, Quebec of Nova Scotian parents and was raised in both Canada and the States. She is a citizen of both Canada and the U.K., and has lived in England since 1987. Brighton is her adopted home; she has lived in the city since 2000.

alison-macleod.com

Reviews

[Isabel Fluffy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ich fand die ersten 150 Seiten sehr interessant, sprachlich und thematisch. Ab da hat mich die Protagonistin verloren. Mir waren ihre Entscheidungen egal und dann hab ich gemerkt, dass ich Seiten lang nicht wirklich aufgepasst habe beim lesen und wieder von vorne anfangen musste, weil ich garnichts mehr verstanden habe.
Tolle Idee, eigentlich spannend umgesetzt, auch was den historischen Kontext angeht aber leider fällt die Geschichte irgendwann für mich auseinander.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a strange little book. I normally do not like historical fiction because it is the author perverting the truth but I came across it in a charity shop and I wanted to read about Anne Bonny after reading another book about treasure hunters. I am not sure how much of the story is fact since Anne lived in the early 1700's but it was a fun read for a Caribbean vacation.