What could be more frightening than having your babies switched, and then knowing that no one believes you? When the changeling tale came into my hands, everything seemed to click into place for the story.

Many people feel this, after having a baby, and so many women are depressed at this time but never diagnosed or helped. I also realized that in terms of characterization, it was key that Lauren should have this, a fairly standard birth experience, so that people can see how traumatic birth can be, for mental health as well as physical health, even if, medically, nothing went 'wrong.'Īnother key, relatable aspect is the fear that she feels, that she won’t be good enough, or that she will fail in some way. I felt foolish for not being wise to this, and wondered where all the ‘bad’ birth stories were in fiction. What struck me about it, was that while I was pregnant with my first baby, I had no idea of the kinds of things that went on, only a vague notion that there might be an episiotomy, and that there would be something like pain, but that when it was over, I would forget all about it.Īfter I gave birth I felt cheated and tricked by everyone who had pretended it wouldn’t be all that bad, and the feeling grew as other women shared their stories with me. Melanie Golding: Lauren’s experiences are drawn from conversations I had over the years with women who had given birth, and the things that happen very commonly to women during birth and in the days following. Can you talk about how you came up with your “hook”? Some succeed far more than others, but one reason your book is so good is that Lauren's psychological exhaustion is a relatable one that so many people have experienced: being a new parent.

Robin Agnew for Mystery Scene: Mysteries, and psychological suspense in particular, have always explored the trope of the unreliable narrator. I found it impossible to stop reading Little Darlings once I picked it up. Melanie Goldings’ first book, Little Darlings, is a psychological thriller about Lauren Tranter, the mother of new born twins, who is experiencing postpartum depression and psychotic breaks -or are they? The reader has to take what comes through the new mother’s point of view and try and figure out what’s happening.

Little darlings a novel