Little Darlings: A Novel

A Refinery29 Best Summer Thriller  ·  An Amazon Best Book of the Month   The anxieties of motherhood take center stage in this “atmospheric and very creepy” debut psychological thriller that reinvents the changeling myth with the flair of Angela Carter (Guardian). Everyone says Lauren Tranter is exhausted, that she needs rest. And they’re right; with newborn twins, Morgan and Riley, she’s never been more tired in her life. But she knows what she saw: that night, in her hospital room, a woman tried to take her babies and replace them with her own...creatures. Yet when the police arrived, they saw no one. Everyone, from her doctor to her husband, thinks she’s imagining things. A month passes and one bright summer morning, the babies disappear from Lauren’s side in a park. When they’re found, something is different about them. The infants look like Morgan and Riley—to everyone else. But to Lauren, something is off. As everyone around her celebrates their return, Lauren begins to scream, These are not my babies. Determined to bring her true infant sons home, Lauren will risk the unthinkable. But if she’s wrong about what she saw...she’ll be making the biggest mistake of her life. Compulsive, creepy, and inspired by some of our darkest fairy tales, Little Darlings will have you checking—and rechecking—your own little ones. Just to be sure. Just to be safe. “Chilling story, beautiful prose.” —Clare Mackintosh, New York Times bestselling author of I Let You Go

The New York Times Book Review

"Unforgettable . . . One suspects that the real sorceress here is Golding, whose writing has given a voice to every wronged mother."

Bustle

"A lyrical and atmospheric folktale for the modern age, Little Darlings is a gorgeously crafted story that makes even the grimmest of subjects shine."

The Guardian

“Atmospheric and very creepy indeed.”

Kirkus starred review

"Golding's novel will strike true fear into the heart of any parent. At the same time, the novel explores the fierce and desperate love we have for our children, written with beautiful intensity . . . A gorgeous, creepy, modern fairy tale reminiscent of Angela Carter."

Booklist starred review

"A modern story of ghosts and fairy tales . . . Golding beautifully blends the supernatural with the everyday, keeping readers riveted to the page as they question what is true."

Foreword Reviews starred review

"Sinister and sickeningly real, Little Darlings is fairy tale-inflected horror . . . that touch[es] on our deepest, most instinctive fears and fairy tales."

Publishers Weekly

"Haunting . . . Fans of psychological thrillers will look forward to Golding’s next novel."

Fangoria Magazine

"It'll make you question whether mother really does know best or if motherhood is truly the dream it's made out to be."

Clare Mackintosh, New York Times bestselling author of I Let You Go

“Chilling story, beautiful prose. Little Darlings is stunning.”

A. J. Banner, bestselling author of The Good Neighbor

"Ingenious, chilling, and completely absorbing, Little Darlings is destined to be the hit of 2019. The scariest book I have read in many years."

you can't unread this story. It will haunt you.”

“Deep. Dark. Utterly addictive. I read this extraordinary book in one breathless gulp...Be warned

Susan Crawford, author of The Pocket Wife

“I love this book! Compelling from the first page to the very last, Golding took me by the hand and pulled me softly but persistently through mystery and myth...A masterfully-told story and a beautiful and nuanced work of art.”

Megan Hart, New York Times bestselling author

“Dark, compelling and terrifyingly relatable, Little Darlings takes every parent’s worst fear and deftly twists it into something even more horrific. It will have you checking every shadow for what you hope isn’t really there.”

Sarah Lotz, author of The White Road

"Little Darlings is the perfect marriage of taut psychological thriller and nail-biting horror. A changeling-inspired page-turner of note with a highly satisfying ending, it'll stay with you long after you've read it. I loved it and can't wait to see what Melanie Golding does next.”

any human, for that matter

"A twisty, chilling exploration of the dark side of motherhood, brilliantly told by a debut author whose skill is evident from the first page. Any parent

Lisa Hall, author of Between You and Me

“A story that is in turn enthralling, creepy and downright sinister, Melanie Golding turns fairy tales on their heads in Little Darlings, making this one to watch out for in 2019. A brilliant, heart-pounding read.”

Felicity Everett, author of The People at Number 9

“Rich and satisfying, this is part who-done-it, part fairy tale, part psychological thriller...Will continue to rattle you, long after you have put it down.”

Annie Ward, author of Beautiful Bad

“Riveting, terrifying and at times heartbreaking...Melanie Golding’s disturbing portrait of a new mother’s paranoia is superbly written, cleverly plotted and gruesomely beautiful in an unforgettable way. A stunning debut.”

beautifully written, disturbing and deliciously creepy.”

“Little Darlings is brilliant

Mel McGrath, author of Give Me the Child

"Dark, richly evocative, tense, and thought-provoking. Taps into every woman's fear that she will not be believed."

a contemporary dark fairy tale that reeled me in like tales of old."

"Viscerally creepy and compelling

Katherine Forbes Riley, author of The Bobcat

"Little Darlings gives a thrill so deep it dips at times into pleasure, at Golding's sheer creativity, at her ability to take our most natural and primal life experience and weave into it our most ancient myths, transforming it into high horror. She keeps the reader spellbound until the very end . . . The psychological intensity of this novel is on par with the best."

Library Journal

"A psychological thriller with a suggestion of the supernatural . . . Golding provides enough reasonable doubt about Lauren’s view of events to keep readers guessing."

About the Author

Melanie Golding is a graduate of the MA in creative writing program at Bath Spa University, with distinction. She has been employed in many occupations including farm hand, factory worker, childminder and music teacher. Throughout all this, because and in spite of it, there was always the writing. In recent years she has won and been shortlisted in several local and national short story competitions. Little Darlings is her first novel, and has been optioned for screen by Free Range Films, the team behind the adaptation of My Cousin Rachel.

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