A first novel called The Stolen Child, inspired by the title and theme of a poem by Yeats, made a big sale at auction—in the low to mid six figures—to Coates Bateman at the Nan Talese imprint at Doubleday. The author, Keith Donohue, heads the grant-making arm of the National Archives in Washington, D.C., and worked until 1998 at the National Endowment for the Arts, where he was the chief speechwriter. His fantasy book tells of a seven-year-old boy kidnapped by a group of changelings in the mid 20th century who introduce the boy to a new family. He remains stuck at the age of seven, however, and soon exhibits astounding gifts at the piano; his dreams and memories are all of life with a German piano teacher a century before. The book was sold for North American rights by Peter Steinberg at the Regal Literary agency.