Little Darlings: A Novel

Melanie Golding

Apr 2019 · Crooked Lane Books

About this ebook

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

Ratings and reviews

This story was equal parts horrifying and gripping. I don’t typically read anything horror because I’m a bit of a scaredy-cat, but the Grimm element of the story intrigued me so I decided to give it a go. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. Even in spite of my fear, I knew I had to continue to see where the story led. The atmospheric writing creates an unforgettable tale, one that is sure to make the hair on the back of one’s neck stand up. The characters were a definite highlight, each unique and clearly fleshed out. It was easy to become attached to both Lauren and Harper. I loved every second of getting to follow their individual paths as they became intertwined in the same mystery. I would say this book is a definite must-read, especially if you’re a fan of all things Grimm and horror. I hear there is going to be a motion-picture in the future so I definitely look forward to that! P.S. You probably don’t want to read this if you’re pregnant, plan on getting pregnant, or have recently had a child. I know that if I was any of the three previously mentioned, I likely would have a hard attack reading this book.

Whoa! Talk about a creepy read! This book kept me on the edge the whole time with its dark undertones and uncertainty of what was going on and what was going to happen. I couldn’t put it down! After having a difficult time giving birth to her twin sons, Lauren is left helpless and lost even as she lays in the hospital. When the unseen woman in the bed next to her sings to her own twins and the sounds of feeding change into something dark and disturbing, Lauren finally manages to check it out. What she stumbles across is the thing of nightmares and when her own babies are suddenly in danger Lauren’s protective instincts rise to hysterical proportions. Harper is walking a fine edge as a detective in the local precinct. Nevertheless, she checks out the call from the previous night that was placed by a patient on the maternity ward. Her own past leads her further into an investigation that was marked off as a mental health issue. Neither woman knows that both of their lives will be irrevocably changed and that Lauren’s very state of mind will be called into question as the mystery deepens. With fairytales and folklore as a backdrop, this story begins and ends with scary uncertainty and dark, unspoken mysteries. The author presents Lauren as a mother who initially doesn’t feel anything for her newborn babies and how, or if, those instinctive reactions will ever arise. Despite her initial need to protect her children, the questions remain throughout the story and my mind ran in circles as to what was really happening. I’m not sure if I’ve ever read anything that left me feeling so totally creeped out. I love when a book can affect me in such a way. I’ve read Stephen King novels that didn’t leave me feeling the way certain parts of this story did. For a debut novel, this is so very well written and moved with an incredible speed that kept me engaged throughout its entirety. Although it ends with a finality, it’s not wrapped up neat and tidy. Life is uncertain and there were a few characters that I wanted to have a black and white ending and that wasn’t the case…which was actually perfect for this story. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided by NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Dark, twisted folklore or postpartum depression? Little Darlings left me with mixed feelings. I'm sure part of that can be blamed on the fact that I went into the book expecting a thriller and got what felt more like a domestic drama. The idea of changelings definitely adds a sinister tone to the story, but in the end, I was still unconvinced as to which way this one wanted to go. Maybe that's the point, and each reader will decide for themselves. All I know for sure is that I expected something more than what I found in this one. According to the hype, Little Darlings is coming to the big screen, so I'll be interested to see how I feel about that format. I don't say this often, but this is one that may be better on the silver screen, at least as far as the thriller aspect goes. Looking at it from the postpartum depression angle, which is the direction I found myself leaning toward, it does make for an interesting drama. So, drama, yes. thriller, not so much, hence my mixed feelings. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either.

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.