Two papers by D. W. Winnicott about adopted children are briefly summarized and his comments are considered from the standpoint of his developmental theory. The idea of the holding environment is considered in relation to the case history of a boy who was doubly deprived of a narrative sense of his life by virtue of not knowing his birth family and knowing little about his extended adoptive family; this boy acquired a characterologic interest in being mysterious. The case is viewed from the standpoint of failure of a holding function having to do with a child's need for narrative.