Golding reportedly received a six figure publishing deal from HarperCollins for the book. It was published by HarperCollins in Canada and Crooked Lane Books in the United States and United Kingdom. [8] It was published on April 30, 2019. [9] The character of Jo Harper appeared in Golding's second novel The Hidden. [10] Sutherland, Doris V. (2019-11-26). "Changeling Times: Melanie Golding's Little Darlings". WWAC. Archived from the original on 2023-07-04 . Retrieved 2023-07-04. Little Darlings is the debut novel of author Melanie Golding. [1] The book is based on changeling folklore, in which human children are abducted by fairies and replaced with fairy children. [2] It was partly inspired by Golding's personal theory that folktales about changelings were a way to explain postpartum psychosis in premodern times. [3] [4] She had discussed maternal bonding with psychologists and other women and found it was often a gradual process despite the popular perception that mothers will feel a "rush of love" when they first see their child. She described this misconception as a "modern folktale". [4] The novel tells the tale of new mother of identical twins, Lauren. She is married to a handsome man who is supportive of Lauren's new role as a mother until she begins to think someone is out to kidnap her babies and replace them with something sinister and not quite human. Lauren seems to have some postpartum depression and even Detective Harper, assigned to her case after she attempts to drown her children, thinks Lauren is just imaging the creepy woman with 'things' in a basket that aren't quite babies.

Immediately after finishing, I was thinking I would give it a 4.5-star rating. There were a couple of plot points that I wished had been expanded on, or moved around in the context of the story, but upon further reflection, to hell with that.Barkie' – Danny's goofy fan club manager, who used to have a crush on Danny. Her actual name is Jane Smith. "Barkie" is very sweet, and she is described by Sunset as "very nice, and always smiling". She has optimistic and goofy character, however, she is also sensitive to all of the sadness spreading around the house. I told you, that wasn't them," said Lauren, "whatever was in that stroller. They've been swapped. They're evil those things, they're not my babies."

Sunset was a wonderful sister to her siblings and it was sad to see her being the responsible one and trying to fix things. She deserved so much better. Golding also wanted to write a novel that depicted pregnancy and childbirth in a way that was not "sugarcoated" because she felt that the physical difficulties involved were often downplayed to pregnant women, including herself in the past. [4] She stated that after giving birth, she felt as if she had been given unrealistic expectations of childbirth and wanted the protagonist to have a "fairly standard birth experience" that represented the pain and hardships of the process. [5] She also noted the absence of negative birth experiences in the fiction she had read up to that point. [5] [6] McLain, Katie (2019-04-16). "50 Must-Read Spring 2019 Crime Novels". BOOK RIOT. Archived from the original on 2023-07-04 . Retrieved 2023-07-04. Claudia was one of the few nice adults in the story and it was obvious she really cared about Sunset and her siblings.

Thank you so much to Sarah at Crooked Lane Books for providing me with an Advanced Reader’s E-Proof in exchange for a review!