The Foundling: The True Story of a Kidnapping, a Family Secret, and My Search for the Real Me
Written by Alex Tresniowski and Paul Joseph Fronczak
Narrated by Kirby Heyborne
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
In 1964, a woman pretending to be a nurse kidnapped an infant boy named Paul Fronczak from a Chicago hospital.
Two years later, police found a boy abandoned outside a variety store in New Jersey. The FBI tracked down Dora Fronczak, the kidnapped infant’s mother, and she identified the abandoned boy as her son. The family spent the next fifty years believing they were whole again—but Paul was always unsure about his true identity.
Then, four years ago—spurred on by the birth of his first child, Emma Faith—Paul took a DNA test. The test revealed that he was definitely not Paul Fronczak. From that moment on, Paul has been on a tireless mission to find the man whose life he’s been living—and to discover who abandoned him, and why.
Poignant and inspiring, The Foundling is a story about a child lost and a faith found, about the permanence of families and the bloodlines that define you, and about the emotional toll of both losing your identity and rediscovering who you truly are.
Alex Tresniowski
Alex Tresniowski is a writer and bestselling author who lives and works in New York. He was a writer for both Time and People magazines, handling mostly human-interest stories. He is the author or coauthor of more than twenty books. For more about this story and the author, please visit AlexTres.com.
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Reviews for The Foundling
263 ratings29 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Incredible story incredibly written. We all can identify with feeling like an outsider at least once without knowing why. This story effectively communicates the diverse issues and emotions involved with a search of self discovery. What a brave journey.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This was an interesting story. In all honesty, I did not love the narrator.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This was a spell binding book ,but also sad that God was not a part of his life . With God he could have had a happier life while he was searching for his biological family . The empty spot in his life was doing all this on his own without God to fill that void . I pray he finds that peace that only come from giving his life to the Lord Jesus Christ.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Overly long - this could have been cut by two thirds. Lots of repetition and too much unnecessary nitpicky detail. There was a lot of whining I thought, a real 'poor me' element that became increasingly grating. Really liked the reader, nice tone and calm, non overly dramatic delivery.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The end I guess, the book is very long and drawn out many times I just wished for the end
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The story itself is mesmerising what that poor man went through. Its a good read. The only reason i gave 3 stars because it's so long, the book could have been a whole lot shorter without ruining the story. Alot of DNA stuff that is important to his journey but quite irrelevant to the reader, i was getting a bit bored.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Super exciting book and really well read as well!
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I enjoyed the story but was put off by the narrator whose voice I found very unexpressive and irritating. It’s a shame that Paul Fronzak himself did not continue reading after the Prologue because he has a lovely voice! I kept listening because I wanted to know what happened.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fantastic book about an incredibly unusual story. Very well written and keeps you gripped from start to finish.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I'd have to try my best for the truth as well. I couldn't just leave it. I seen his.loint of view not the ones who shunned him at first. Yet everyone has different feeling so to each their own.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A lot of character jumping. It could get confusing. Exciting though to follow his journey towards finding his biological family, helping others find theirs, and all the loopholes he had to jump through along the way. Not my typical book, but I wasn't disappointed. I mainly started getting characters and families mixed up.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This was just incredible. Everyone should read this book. Couldn't put it down. Truly.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Very interesting book, well written. An engrossing read. Looking forward to reading more of these authors.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Awesome book. I truly enjoyed this one. Worth every second!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/51st half was utterly fascinating. I couldn't put it down. 2nd half was more slow but still good. I feel blessed to know my identity, something I took for granted before.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book was exciting and interesting. I loved it all the way to the end. My hope is for peace for Paul and his family.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Lots of research to bring the story to life.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It was a good story. I enjoyed listening to it.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Couldn’t put it down. I felt the authors pain. Great book.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I really enjoyed this book, listened in 1day! I wish he would have found his twin sister.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The book was great but my recording of it jumped around for some reason, so I missed a bunch. Please fix it!!
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5OK book. Interesting story about 2 babies , 1 stolen, 1 left alone
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5No one could make up a story like this! Amazing this man is able to live a normal life after learning about his true identity. I’m still interested in learning more about what happened to his sister, whether his siblings ever became part of his family, who the kidnapper was and what became of the true Paul.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5This deserved to be a long article not a book. He goes on and on and on and on about each little point. Something that could be described in 20 words takes 2000 instead. The man needs therapy. I hope he gets it. It's full of poor me. There's a lot of tragedy in the world. My mother's parents and two of three sisters were murdered in WW2. Amazingly she treasured her children and grandchildren and even had a great sense of humor. By the end of the book I really disliked this man and his endless self-pity.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A journey into the unknown. a great read and ongoing.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mystery was SO good. Very long winded at points. Now I need to listen to the next one.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Very Long and drawn out story... somewhat interesting .... repetitive at times...
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This was exceptional…. I may have to give it a second go. I do wish closure for everyone in the book ….
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Absolutely unbelievable but is true. This book can not be put down. I pray it all if found, Jack.