The Changeling of Fenlen Forest

Elizabeth Missing and her mother Sylvia live on the edge of Fenlen Forest in the land of Gersa. Elizabeth has had a connection with the unicorns in the forest ever since she was a little girl and they led her back to her mother after her father left them. Her bond with the unicorns let her wander the dangerous forest safely, something the townsfolk were afraid to do, and she would find unicorn horns and bring them to her mother who would make them into a healing ointment. One day when she is wandering the forest with her unicorns, she runs into a hunter who tries to catch her. Elizabeth gets away but runs into another person, this time an older girl who looks much like Elizabeth does. The girl comforts Elizabeth, and later, when Elizabeth gets home, she is told by one of her neighbours that the girl might be a changeling and that she should watch out for the creatures in the forest.

Years later, Elizabeth, now 17, and her mother have made a name for themselves selling the healing ointment. Elizabeth has taken on the task of raising one of the unicorns, naming it Sida. However, one day when her destested cousin and uncle come to visit, Sida runs off into the forest. Elizabeth chases her, but without her unicorns to guide her, she becomes lost in the forest. She then runs into a shepherd who speaks a foreign language and calls her Bettina. After realizing Elizabeth doesn't speak his language, the man introduces himself as Torun and takes her to his home where he says his uncle speaks her language better than he does. Once there, Elizabeth meets Torun’s family, his aunt Melina and her children, Sarai, Maro, Dan and Telka. The family calls Elizabeth Bettina as well, and she learns that it is the same name in their language. Later that night when Torun's uncle returns, Elizabeth discovers he is her father who had left her and her mother when Elizabeth was a child.

Elizabeth is unable to leave the house because of a rainstorm, and, while she is homesick, she resolves to find Sida and return to her mother as soon as she can. Though she doesn't trust her father, Elizabeth tries to help out his new family through weaving like Melina and Sarai do. However, Elizabeth is not very good at weaving and asks to help Torun with his shepherding or to go along with her father to sell the wares the women make. When she is told that women are to stay in the house and weave, she and Torun grow still closer to each other. Elizabeth gets used to the daily routine of her father's family, and she slowly learns about the missing daughter, Bettina, who looks very much like Elizabeth. Bettina and Torun were best friends and were to be married. Elizabeth also learns that the family believes Bettina was taken by the Alvina, old spirits of the forest. Elizabeth begins to wonder if the girl she met in the forest as a child was Bettina, and if, perhaps, she, herself, is the changeling.

Over the months Elizabeth spends with the Torun and her father's family, Elizabeth still searches for Sida, and she discovers that Sida has joined a herd of wild unicorns. While Sida is more independent, she still comes to Elizabeth for help sometimes when the herd is in danger. Elizabeth and Torun help a unicorn deliver a fawn, and Elizabeth begins to believe that the unicorns can control time, and that is how their horns heal wounds, speeding up the natural healing process. Elizabeth and Torun also grow closer and kiss at a cousin’s wedding in one of the neighbouring villages. However, things get complicated when her father finds out about Elizabeth's involvement with the unicorns and wants to capitalize on this situation by selling their horns. Elizabeth is strongly against this action, and when she takes Telka to look at a cave the Alvina supposedly live in, they are found by one of her father's colleagues who attacks them and demands Elizabeth show him the unicorns. Sida and her herd rescue Elizabeth and Telka from the man, but Melina, believing Elizabeth is one of the Alvina and tried to take another of her children to the cave, convinces the people from the surrounding villages to kick Elizabeth out. She says goodbye to the children and Tourn, who asks her to stay, but having learned the unicorns' secret, Elizabeth decides to go to the cave and find Bettina whom Elizabeth has been seeing flashes of throughout the forest in her adventures.

Elizabeth asks Sida to use her magic and take her to the cave when Bettina goes there, and Elizabeth finds Bettina just as she is about to enter the cave. She learns that Bettina believes Elizabeth is the changeling and that she has been haunting Bettina for years. She also thinks that Elizabeth seduced Torun away from her as she had seen them together in the forest. Elizabeth convinces Bettina to go back to her family and that she will leave them alone. Elizabeth then returns to her old home and finds her mother has married a man in the town. She takes up her mother's old job of making potions and selling them at fairs. Six months later, Elizabeth sees Bettina at one of these fairs and learns that Torun had left seemingly in search of her shortly after she left. Elizabeth tells the reader that, once she finishes writing her story, she is going to go back into the forest and hopes there are more secrets to discover.

The strongest point of Magyarody's novel is her world building. She creates a fairytale world with languages, cultures, customs, creatures and magic, while keeping it believable. The Changeling of Fenlen Forest includes a glossary of words made by Elizabeth, herself, a clever addition to round out the world. Readers get glimpses of how the Gersan society works in the small town where Elizabeth and Sylvia stay as well as the prejudices of the upper class that Sylvia's family comes from. Readers also see various traditions from the Melina and Torun's people; Elizabeth goes to a wedding and also sees a woman willingly go to meet the Alvina upon the time of her death. The day-to- day life of Torun and his family also offer insight into how the world works, and all these aspects create a well-rounded world that will engross readers.

Another of the novel's strengths is the mystery aspect. The gradual reveal of the forest's and unicorns' secrets, along with the glimpses readers get of Bettina and her struggles, are both intriguing and haunting at times. Readers are treated to visions of alternate landscapes and seasons, along with flashes of Bettina and her seeming madness. These points tie into a well- crafted plot, and readers will pick up on connections they didn't notice at first upon a second read. The climactic confrontation between Elizabeth and Bettina at the cave is well-written and a cathartic ending to the novel. However Magyarody leaves enough space to continue Elizabeth's story, hinting at more adventures in the last chapter.

The Changeling of Fenlen Forest proves to be an entertaining and mysterious read, one that will engage audiences and encourage a second reading to discover more secrets of the forest.