The Stolen Bairn by Katrina Macdonald Rae

Title: The Stolen Bairn

Author: Katrina Macdonald Rae

Genre: Historical Fantasy

Publisher: Riveted Press

Published: 26^th May 2026

Format: Paperback

Pages: 192

Price: $17.99

Synopsis: Katie Skea was stolen by faeries as a baby and won back by her mother’s courage. Years later on the Isle of Skye, strange magic is stirring. When her new sister is mysteriously injured, Katie fears the faery world is calling her back—and the only way to save her family is to face the world she barely remembers. Across Skye, Katie uncovers a fading faery kingdom, a boy trapped by nightly enchantments, and the truth about her own faery heritage. To save the people she loves, Katie must use every trick she knows, including the ones she learned from the faeries themselves. Now she must decide if she will be their saviour… or their undoing.

An enthralling middle-grade fantasy adventure inspired by three classic Scottish faery tales.

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Katie Skea is thirteen, and has been living with a huge secret. She was stolen by the faeries as a baby, and her mother fought to get her back, but at what cost? What secrets has her mother hidden from her about her heritage and history? Things get complicated when they move to the Isle of Skye, and Katie’s mother marries a Lord, and they move into a castle. Immediately, Katie and Kate, her new sister start to bond.

Yet a mysterious injury for Kate leads Katie back into the faery kingdom, to a boy trapped in night enchantments and into a trap that could see her separated from her family forever… especially if she embraces a heritage she has no idea about, that is somehow linked to everyone she knows.

The Stolen Bairn is set in the early to mid-nineteenth century, and filled with clan conflicts, superstitions, magic and faeries. It’s told through Katie’s perspective as this is her journey about finding out her identity. Where she comes from and the truth about her family, because there are unanswered questions and a sense of unease throughout the novel.

Why unease? Because everything is uncertain. Everything is held hostage until the time is right, until Katie is ready to tell the reader. As a result, the reader is drawn along and can become invested in the journey, the quest and the frustrations that go along with wanting to know what happens, and what the secrets that everyone has kept from Katie are.

There was a sense as I read that there were so many things being kept from Katie, and it was unclear, especially for her. This is what drove the novel though, which was littered with aspects of faery magic, clan and family conflict and the quest tropes that come with a novel involving the fae. Things that seem innocuous at first become relevant later on, and work to create the climax and finale of the novel.

This story was inspired by three Scottish faery tales, and I would love to know exactly which ones as a fairy tale lover. I want to see if they are in my collection. The tales of stolen children, changelings and the fae have shaped this novel cleverly, and weaves a magical story that reveals so much more than I expected when I started reading the book.  I felt that things moved quite slowly, but it worked very well for the story and the setting.

I loved the setting, and I think it came to life well. The Isle of Skye has a beauty about it that lends itself to so many magical stories, and has an ethereal sense about it that brings magic and the fae to life. This was a fun novel to read, and I love novels that are set in Scotland!

Another fantastic middle grade fantasy novel.