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What happens when love and luck lead you from city streets toward the old world of Irish legend?
In Changeling, and Other Stories, Donn Byrne brings together thirteen tales of Irish life, love and the unexpected. The collection moves between city streets, the stage and older legends. Affection, loyalty to place and the strange turns of chance give these short pieces their shape, with each story offering its own mood.
Byrne’s musical voice ties these different worlds together. His sentences rise and fall like speech, drawing on Irish tale-telling and its warmth. Here, the way a story unfolds matters as much as what happens. You can read one tale, let its mood settle, then return for another without following a single continuous plot.
What you’ll discover
- A voice worth lingering over Hear the rhythms of Irish speech in a lyrical style that invites you to linger.
- Love and sudden chance Explore affection and the unexpected turns that can change the course of a life.
- City streets and stages Step into tales shaped by the busy world of cities and their theatres.
- The pull of old legends Follow the collection beyond city life toward the older world of Irish myth.
- A story at a time Enjoy each colourful piece on its own, with room to savour its distinct mood.
Who will love it
Readers who love Irish voices, old New York, and love stories with a sting will enjoy this book. It suits anyone who likes short tales of courtrooms, farms, hunts, and legends, told warmly.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A prisoner becomes someone new
- Home does not need his pity
- Stubborn pride threatens what matters
- The bridge asks for more
- Love and loyalty pull apart
- Wisdom needs a feeling heart
- Love carries certainty and cost
- Private judgment cannot be escaped
- People change when pride gives way
Who’s who
- Anna JanssenA woman on trial for a Broadway shooting who seems wholly changed, and who wants only to be seen as she now is.
- Howard DoneganA massive, dozing criminal lawyer who refuses to cross-examine and bets everything on one witness telling his story freely.
- Thomas McCarthyAn honest New York policeman who must bring a prisoner home across the world and keep his oath.
- Willie John GrantA grocer from County Down who returns from America certain of his success and wants to be admired.
- Eunice DoranA tall, fierce neighbor who runs her own farm and will not let anyone patronize Ireland.
- Aleck RobertsonA red-bearded Belfast linen maker who loves a mill girl and cannot make himself yield to his workers.
- Simon LovatA poor Scottish boy turned bridge builder who wants his great stone bridge to stand and his wife beside him.
- Li SinA Manchu duke and physician who sells treasures on Fifth Avenue and cares for those in trouble.
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Changeling, and Other Stories
by Donn Byrne · 1923
In a New York courtroom, a lawyer lets a policeman tell the tale of a prisoner and a Pacific island.
Medium level5–10 hours to read20 languages
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“The profit of crime is death.”
In short
Picture a New York courtroom at dusk in January. A tall, tanned woman sits in the dock, charged with shooting a rich man in a Broadway cabaret ten years ago.
Changeling, and Other Stories at a glance
- Reading time
- About 6 h 10 min4 h 50 min fast, 7 h 20 min slow
- Length
- 87,700 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1923by Donn Byrne
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A prisoner who no longer seems the murderess
The title story opens in a stuffy New York courtroom at January dusk. Anna Janssen is on trial for shooting Alastair de Vries, a rich wastrel, in a Broadway cabaret. Yet the woman in the dock looks nothing like the drunken chorus girl the witnesses describe.
Her lawyer, Howard Donegan, seems to doze through it all and will not cross-examine anyone. Then he stands, concedes every fact, and asks only that the policeman Thomas McCarthy tell his story in his own way.
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Details
- First published
- 1923
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Byrne, Donn. Changeling, and Other Stories. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/changeling-and-other-stories.
Byrne, D. (2026). Changeling, and other stories. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/changeling-and-other-stories (Original work published 1923)
Byrne, Donn. Changeling, and Other Stories. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/changeling-and-other-stories.
@book{byrne2026changeling,
author = {Byrne, Donn},
title = {Changeling, and Other Stories},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/changeling-and-other-stories},
note = {First published 1923}
}
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What is Changeling, and Other Stories about?
It is a collection of thirteen short tales by Donn Byrne. They range from a New York murder trial and Ulster farms to a hunt in Wicklow, biblical legends, a Fifth Avenue shop, and a prizefight, all about love, pride, and change.
Who was Donn Byrne?
Donn Byrne was an Irish American author who died in 1928. He wrote novels and many short stories, including Messer Marco Polo. His style is that of a storyteller, rich in humor, legend, and feeling for place.
What happens in the title story Changeling?
Changeling follows the trial of Anna Janssen for a Broadway killing. Her lawyer lets the policeman who arrested her tell, in his own way, of their years alone on a Pacific island and of how she changed.
The author
Donn Byrne
1889–1928 · Irish novelist
Donn Byrne was an Irish novelist and short-story writer, born in New York in 1889 and raised in Ireland. He later lived in the United States before returning to Ireland. His books include Messer Marco Polo (1921) and The Wind Bloweth (1922). He died in a car accident in Ireland in 1928.
“The profit of crime is death.”
More by Donn Byrne
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