The Foundling
The True Story of a Kidnapping, a Family Secret, and My Search for the Real Me
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The Foundling
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Narrated by:
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Kirby Heyborne
About this listen
The Foundling tells the incredible and inspiring true story of Paul Fronczak, a man who recently discovered via a DNA test that he was not who he thought he was - and set out to solve two 50-year-old mysteries at once. Along the way he upturned the genealogy industry, unearthed his family's deepest secrets, and broke open the second longest cold case in US history, all in a desperate bid to find out who he really is.
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 50 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 definitively that he was 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.
This is the story of Paul's heart-wrenching and tortuous journey to solve both mysteries and finally learn the truth about his identity.
The Foundling tells the incredible and inspiring true story of Paul Fronczak, a man who recently discovered via a DNA test that he was not who he thought he was - and set out to solve two 50-year-old mysteries at once. Along the way he upturned the genealogy industry, unearthed his family's deepest secrets, and broke open the second longest cold case in US history, all in a desperate bid to find out who he really is.
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 50 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 definitively that he was 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.
This is the story of Paul's heart-wrenching and tortuous journey to solve both mysteries and finally learn the truth about his identity.
The Foundling is a touching and inspiring story about a child lost and 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.
©2017 Paul Joseph Fronczak and Alex Tresniowski (P)2017 Simon & Schuster, Inc.What listeners say about The Foundling
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lorna Furst
- 30-04-2018
Awesome Awesome Awesome
I loved everything about this book it had me from start to finish I just couldn't put it down.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dawn
- 17-02-2019
Sunrise
This story had me captured trying to find the answer to two puzzles. I was left somewhat frustrated that all the answers had not been found. I wait to see whether a sequel is written with some answers about what happened to the stolen baby.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- V. Stacey
- 23-09-2017
Amazing Determination despite All.
Some People like Paul/Simon/Jack have exhaustive stories.
A message for Paul/Simon/Jack 'you are a being with many names. You are all identities all rolled into one. A truly amazing soul who faced every truth. Be Free now believing this.'
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Marian
- 03-06-2017
Family secrets - an intriguing tale with twists and turns
All families have their secrets. This is a very moving book which I enjoyed thoroughly. We will never truly understand what may have motivated Paul's parents to abandon him.
Like it or not as humans we have a drive to find our biological parents which can sometimes be painful, sometimes a happy event. With the help of some dna detectives and great genealogy site Paul takes us on his adventure and shares his ups and downs as he discovers more about his identity. I highly recomend this story.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Elizabeth Young
- 01-05-2017
Great story
Really interesting story, however I wasn't a fan of the narration. It's strange listening to an autobiography not read by the author, with the narrator putting on voices and having different emotional intimations in his voice when the story is not his. The emotion is not his, so I found it awkward to listen to at times which detracted from the story. It also wasn't very well done so detracted even further. I should have just read it rather than listened.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Marie Boyd
- 04-09-2017
So worth hearing! So well-read, all absorbing...
This would be my favourite Audible book, so far. The narrator's voice is so easy to listen to. This true life story is well-told, honest and it draws you in; you care so much about the people involved. You empathise with them. I so wanted to know what happened to Paul. I'd highly recommend this book to you. It's left me humble and touched my soul. 🕊
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Judy
- 22-08-2019
tragic all round
amazing story.. so sad .. lots of victims..
was very complicated and convoluted with many family names and peoples names in the story which made it hard to keep up with if too long was left between listening to the chapters
where is Jill??
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Aj
- 17-03-2019
Angst ad nauseam
This would have been a good story if the author didn't give us the intimate emotional reaction at every setback. The emotional became so gruelling that I lost track of the actually story.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dawn
- 21-08-2019
How can this be true?
This is an amazing story, even more so because the story is true. Tragic, but true.
I felt it was too long winded though and found all the very long winded descriptions of DNA seemed to go on an on and on. It was well out of my understanding and after I while I found I was mentally switching off until the story progressed onto something else.
It is sad what was done to the central characters in this story, both the children and the parents and I hope all concerned can find peace in the future.
I also think the narrator was the wrong choice.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 19-05-2017
Basically a genealogy
This story if fine, it was entertaining enough to want to know what would happen and i finished it which indicates it was not boring. It is essentially a description of a complex genealogy, not my thing but if it was this book would be great. performed well. couldn't help finding the author selfish and searching for something outside himself that can only be found inside himself but this made it no less compelling.
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1 person found this helpful