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The Stolen Ones

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Darlene Carter was always a strong woman. But after suddenly losing her mother to a deadly virus, she is left anchorless while struggling to navigate the pandemic with her teenaged daughter. Isolated, and alone in grief, Darlene reluctantly takes on her mother’s pursuit to find familial connections. As restrictions lift, the two travel to Newfoundland to follow a DNA trail in search of answers.

The family holds more than Darlene is prepared for. As she delves into a series of century-old journals that hold tales of her ancestors Doctors Peter and Mary Nolan, she begins to feel an unlikely kinship with Peter. Journey with Darlene, through Peter and Mary’s lives, as she links clues from yesteryear to modern-day DNA evidence, weaving them into the family tapestry of her Nolan roots. But when she is about to uncover the final threads, she fears her ancestors may have taken them to their graves.

Can she unlock the secrets of the past? Battling to remain neutral in the chaos of post-pandemic Newfoundland, will Darlene embrace the true meaning of belonging and family like Peter and Mary write about, or is proof the only remedy for her fractured heart?
Book 4 of 4 (Being Mary Ro 1, The Promise 2, The Liars 3, The Stolen Ones 4)

326 pages, Paperback

Published July 21, 2021

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About the author

Ida Linehan Young

13 books146 followers
Ida Linehan Young is a wife, mother, and grandmother living, writing, and publishing in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

Recently retired from the information technology sector in the federal government, Ida created Seaweed Publishing to complement her substantial, award-winning, and best-selling writing portfolio.

Ida’s first published works, a memoir, debuted to a record-breaking crowd in 2014. She has since published across multiple genres with historical Newfoundland fiction, non-fiction, speculative fiction, crime, and children’s books.

Influenced by her love of local history and the familial art of storytelling passed down by her father, Edward Linehan, and her maternal grandfather, Frank Power, she began writing stories that told of her people and her roots. She researches the past of her beloved birthplace and writes to showcase the richness and storied past of her province.

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5 stars
96 (46%)
4 stars
58 (27%)
3 stars
45 (21%)
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7 (3%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
Profile Image for Ida Young.
Author 13 books146 followers
May 27, 2021
I had a lot of fun writing this book. It's a movement between the present and the past and tieing characters together even though there is a hundred years and more between them.
This is Peter's story and Peter's and Mary's story as they go through life's trials and tribulations. There is also a lot of history of our wonderful province included.
If you haven't done so, it would be a good idea to read Being Mary Ro first so you can get situated. Having said that, The Stolen Ones is a standalone book. I do hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Profile Image for Matthew Ledrew.
Author 70 books63 followers
May 27, 2021
'The Stolen Ones' is an incredible entry into Newfoundland culture, mirroring the past and the present into one narrative.
2 reviews
Read
August 6, 2021
If this book is like the previous ones by Ida Linehan Young then I anxiously await the release.
It took me less than a day to read The Stolen Ones. I intended to lay it down "after the next chapter" but I found that impossible to do. Ida never ceases to amaze me with her story telling skills. I so look forward to her next book.
Profile Image for Sara Burke.
1 review
May 27, 2021
The Stolen Ones was a great read filled with insights into Newfoundland culture and history. Following two story lines, one historic, one modern day, Ida explores what family can mean no matter the time period.

Note: I did not read her previous work, but was able to follow the story of Peter and Mary with no issue. You do not need to have read her past work to pick up this book!
Profile Image for Beatrice Reid.
4 reviews
July 15, 2021
The Stolen Ones..another really GREAT book!!
It is a real struggle to find a book that grabs ones interest right from the very beginning!!

Well 'THE STOLEN ONES ' grabbed me from the get go, and had me hold, for entire reading ride; even answering questions I had been pondering since reading Ida's other AMAZING BOOKS, "Being Mary Ro; The Promise; and the Liars!"
In , 'The Stolen Ones', Ida 'uniquely' aligns the past and the present, Darlene, Tiffany, Peter, Mary, and other characters..
The old journals, DNA results, 100 year old Aunt Amies valuable memories,,give knowledge and answers to Darlene , Tiffany, and other family and friends, to take with them, and help shape their futures!
Even reading during this CURRENT pandemic, there were times when life demanded I put down my book....I would find myself doing the absolute minimum, so I could jump right back into the book!!
I NEEDED to know what discoveries had been made while I cooked supper; did all the party plans come together ?; What could Newfoundland have to offer Tiffany, a teenager from Boston??; will the journals of Dr.s Mary and Peter Nolan answer any of Darlenes questions, or just give her more questions?; what does the DNA reveal?, and so much more..
Ida's flare, and unique ability, to capture one's attention is alive and well in this book!
I found there was a slight change in Ida's style of bringing the characters of the past and present together, which I found added great intrigue to the story!
Another great work of fiction, truly captivating from start to finish....Also contains a historical truth, a heart racing/ 'galvanizing truth' from the past!!
When is the next book out???
Profile Image for Darlene.
26 reviews1 follower
March 6, 2022
Thoroughly enjoyed this book and the others in the series!
Profile Image for Harold Walters.
1,998 reviews36 followers
October 8, 2021
Ida my duck, you have me mesmerized.

In the second summer of Covid, Darlene Carter and her daughter Tiffany leave Boston and travel to Newfoundland in search of their roots in St. Mary’s Bay.

There you go, b’ys, a summary of Ida Linehan Young’s novel The Stolen Ones [Flanker Press] in a nutshell.

Forget anything as neat as a nutshell, Darlene and Tiffany discover they are twigs on a wind-blown bough of a family tree with branches as twisted as a Cape Shore tuckamore’s.

No spoiler to say the gang’s all here from the previous three novel in this series — albeit in shuffled time: Mary Ro and Peter Nolan, Danol and Erith Cooper and a yaffle of others seated among the limbs of a mother tree capable of withstanding a node-east gale.

Of course, these are the old folks. Among the younger crowd are Tiffany and Stephen who meet in North Harbour and, quicker than Granny caught the weasel, commence to “do the rush” as wooing is called in a different bay.

The occasion central to the story — the speck of grit around which this pearl of a tale coalesces — is Aunt Ammie’s 101st birthday. Before the book ends there’s a swam of relatives in North Harbour, some of them bunking in RVs to handle the overflow once family homes are stogged.

On the day of Aunt Ammie’s birthday scoff, the assembled crowd would put a scowl on Dr. Janice FitzGerald’s (Newfoundland’s Chief Medical Officer of Health in The Time of Covid) face if she knew the size of the assembly.

Long before I read the party pages, however, I started to picture strewn sheets of family tree outlines littered across Ida Linehan Young’s desk, thumb-tacked to her walls and possibly scotch-taped to parts of her ceiling.

I tip my hat and applaud the author for keeping the family connections straight while she penned four books.

Truly.

Hat suitably tipped, I began to think about family trees …

… and cat’s cradles.

Typical genealogy tree templates have always intimidated me. All those neat rectangles boxing ancestors’ names; all those ruler-drawn lines linking box to box, from roots to canopy. Far too complicated for my tiny noggin.

(Which partly explains why I’ve never had my DNA analyzed to see if I belong in the same bushy tree as renowned journalist Barbara Walters. Cousin Barbara?)

A pencil line tracing the relationship between Mary Ro and Tiffany Carter would be as zig-zagged as a pathway through a maze, wouldn’t it?

Lifelines are not always straight, eh b’ys?

I fancy they are more likely to resemble cat’s cradles.

Think of that children’s string game.

As first glance, the game appears to be a meaningless tangle of crisscrossed strings.

Look more closely and you’ll see rectangles (rec-tangles).

Transfer the cradle from one player’s fingers to another and you’ll see triangles.

Pass the cradle back and you’ll see squares, diamonds even.

And so it goes.

Forgive me, Ida. Bat the hat off my head if you wish, but I imagine your characters dwelling in a cat’s cradle whose shifting string (perhaps fashioned from shop twine as is the ring Peter Nolan gives Mary Ro) rearranges space and time.

Mary Ro and Peter Nolan in an initial rectangle.

Change hands. Danol and Erith Cooper in a triangle.

Change hands. Darlene and Tiffany Carter in a square.

Change hands. Jamie and Petie; Emma Carter; Aunt Ammie and a whole slew of others in a kaleidoscopic cradle of diamonds.

Possibly though, none of what I say makes a grain of sense.

But b’ys, if Ida Linehan Young’s evolving North Harbour saga is a string game, I’m betting there are plenty more cats in the cradle.

Thank you for reading.
Profile Image for Don Barrow.
12 reviews
November 17, 2021
The Stolen One, is very meaningful to me because you had made reference on your historical facts  about Private E. Saunders . He is actually my wife’s Great-Grandfather.
 
As well, my daughter did a project about her Great- Great Grandfather and won three trips because of her project.  She won a trip to fly to France with the NL Ambassadors for the anniversary of the battle of Beaumont Hamel.  Then a couple years later, she won a trip through Veteran Affairs to Belgium for the Anniversary of the battle of Passchendaele where she read a portion of her project on the site of the battle.  She was 1 of 5 teens selected in Canada.  Also, she won a trip through the rotary club to fly to Ottawa to do a tour of the Nation War Museum.  
 
My wife and her family are quite excited that Private Saunders was mentioned. As I finished reading the book, I realized why he was mentioned.
 
Thanks so much for sharing your talent!  I am an avid reader, especially historical novels.
 
13 reviews
September 30, 2021
I was in NFLD recently for a work trip and one of the gift shops had this. I always enjoy a good book and figured I'd give it a chance. It did not disappoint that's for sure. The entire time I was reading it I was trying to solve the puzzle of how they were genetically related. The ending wasn't what I expected but was just as good.

Would definitely recommend this to my friends.
375 reviews
November 29, 2021
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. It kept me coming back for more! The characters were real in that I both liked them and found them annoying at times! I liked the parallel time pieces and the conclusion wasn't expected but still.felt natural.
93 reviews1 follower
December 31, 2021
I'm very fond of this series of books, and was intrigued by the very modern elements (the COVID pandemic, for example) in this one.

A fuller review appeared in the October 2021 edition of The Northeast Avalon times, and will come here in due course.
4 reviews
January 16, 2022
Even though I wasn't a huge fan of the character Darlene, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, most especially the journal entries and flashbacks.
This is the first of Ida's books that I have read, but I will definitely be reading more!
10 reviews
April 23, 2022
You did NOT disappoint Ida.💖 You tied one tragedy(Diphtheria) in "Being Mary Ro with another (Covid). Being able to bring it full circle from one generation to another and finely tying it up in a neat little bow. Bravo my darling 👏🤗💞 l
1 review
August 8, 2021
Another amazing read Ida. I couldn’t put it down. Each book you write continues to draw in the reader. Congratulations on another success. Can’t wait to see what else you are writing.
Profile Image for Tammy.
7 reviews
September 25, 2021
I loved this book! Ida has done it again! It tied so many details together. I love how it was in the present, looking back to the past. I became wrapped up in the new characters wondering how it would all play out, while at the same time the original characters, Mary and Peter, explained more about their life in their journals. Ida is a favourite author of mine. Beautifully written!
1 review
Read
February 27, 2022
I read this book the stolen ones as soon as it was released. What an excellent book. It kept me in suspense until the very end. I read all of Ida s books & can't wait for her next release in April .
20 reviews1 follower
July 29, 2021
I must say this is my favourite book so far from this author. I loved the characters, I loved the setting, I especially loved the relevancy of it all. Newfoundland in post-pandemic, a mother dying from COVID, a family grieving, and pair that with similar events in the early 1900s, you have a whopper of a book.
The author's opening chapter had me hooked, and the ending had me wanting more. Well done. The events from the past seemed they could be a bit far-fetched, but I trusted the author after learning of previous events that were true and was glad I did.
I enjoyed the ties to the characters from the series. It was nice to see Peter and Mary. I'm glad of the emphasis on Peter Nolan's character. It gave him due feature. Though I enjoyed meeting them once again, the book is certainly stand-alone if you haven't.
Do yourselves a favour folks, read this book. You will enjoy from cover to cover and, if you are like me, will look beyond the back cover to see if there is more. I can't wait for the next offering from this author.
Profile Image for Robyn.
3 reviews1 follower
December 19, 2022
Incredible story that delves into Newfoundland history and does an excellent job at tying two story lines together! Looking forward to reading more of Linehan-Young’s work!
Profile Image for Janalynn.
211 reviews6 followers
December 17, 2021
Picked this one up as it's one of this year's NL Reads contenders. Might be the first book I've read where Covid has been part of the storyline? While I liked the back-and-forth timeline and I think it added to the story overall, the transitions felt really disconnected.

(I'm wondering if, since I haven't read any of her other books, I missed a lot of the connections and character info? It felt like characters just showed up and I missed an introduction along the way.)
Profile Image for Nicole.
535 reviews14 followers
August 18, 2021
In “The Stolen Ones” Ida Linehan Young weaves a mystery that encompasses both the past and the present and tells the bittersweet story of loved ones lost and family gained.

When Darlene’s mother unexpectedly dies during the pandemic, not only is Darlene and her own daughter left behind to grieve the unbearable loss, but they are also left with a mystery on their hands. Her late mother, in search of her biological family through the use of an online DNA service, has a treasure trove of evidence that leads Darlene and Tiffany on a path straight to Newfoundland. Embarking on a trip that Emma Carter had longed to take herself, they are welcomed with open arms and are taken under the wing of Aunt Ammie and her brethren in North Harbour, who are just as eager to help them figure things out.

With alternating chapters, we follow along in the present as Darlene and Tiffany travel from Boston to Newfoundland and meet their might-be family and then into the past, as we read along with them in the journals of Peter and Mary Nolan. Will these journals bring to light just exactly what happened – how did this branch of the family get broken and left behind - or will the trail go cold, sending Darlene and Tiffany back to Boston with unanswered questions and broken hearts?

I absolutely loved the mingling of past and present in this book, Linehan Young does an absolutely fantastic job of smoothly transitioning from one to the other. She keeps the mystery alive and thrumming while at the same time holding the readers attention and not divulging too many answers. A definite page turner!

I was beyond intrigued with the DNA discovery and how in the world the Carter family from Boston was related to Aunt Ammie’s family in Newfoundland. Having read the previous three books in this series I very much enjoyed another glimpse into the lives and adventures of Peter and Mary Nolan and thoroughly enjoyed the introduction of these new characters of Darlene and Tiffany and especially Aunt Ammie, as she reminded me quite a bit of my own grandmother.

Warm hearts and warm kitchens are the centerpiece of a Newfoundland home; “The Stolen Ones” is a reminder that family doesn’t always mean a blood relation and that a stranger is just a friend you haven’t yet met.

If you have not yet begun to read this series, be sure and pick up a copy of the first book, “Being Mary Ro.” I promise you; you will not be disappointed and you too will find yourself grabbing for the next in line and soon enough, like me, you will reach the end of “The Stolen One’s” with tears in your eyes not only because of the bittersweet ending but because you will miss all these characters that you have truly grown to love.
Profile Image for Linda Churchill.
549 reviews10 followers
December 30, 2024
Another fabulous Newfoundland writer. A good story well developed, with lots of interesting characters. Really enjoyed it.
Profile Image for Jennilee.
11 reviews
October 19, 2023
Loved this series about Mary Ro and her family, the way Ida tied in the past with the now was just amazing, absolutely loved it.
Profile Image for Nancy Dawe.
310 reviews1 follower
November 26, 2021
A caveat that I have not read Mary Ro, and it’s possible that having a toe in the world of this family might have made this book more enjoyable, but..

….This book was just very much not for me. It felt populated with plot points with the substance and connective tissue missing. The burden that the main character constantly put on her potential family to reassure her that every kindness they did her was not putting them out was so tiresome. The sensational experiences by their ancestors seem ridiculous - hard to believe so much intrigue can avoid being intriguing. The writing was not affecting - I didn’t feel joy at the happy moments or sad during tragedy, there just was not enough character development or setup for anything to have stakes.
5 reviews2 followers
August 25, 2021
“The Stolen Ones” was a book I could not put down. From the first chapter Ida had me captured. From current day to the past, Ida easily transported you back and forth. Learning about the history of life in Newfoundland outports in the late 1890 and current day Newfoundland culture, she made me feel like I was there. How she weaved the two time periods and dropped tidbits of information made you second guessing yourself. You don’t need to read the other three books to follow this one but I highly recommend that you do. This book puts the cherry on top of the series! Congratulations Ida and I can’t wait for your next book.
3 reviews
September 8, 2024
Outstanding!! This book had me in the "feels" in more ways than one. You know a book is great when it leaves you longing for more!

For me, in addition to being immersed in each character... whom I've grown to know and love in this series, I was also taken aback to how I connected personally...as I related to the storyline somewhat.

Ida Linehan Young is one of our generations' best authors who will take you far away from everyday life, allowing you to escape in her books....if you let her!!
339 reviews
December 17, 2022
While this was a good story it really needed a good editor. There were many places that were disjointed. It's too bad because the concept and basic plot line were interesting.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews

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