May Book of the Month: Little Darlings by Melanie Golding - answers back

[SorchaMumsnet]

Our bookclub read for May is Melanie Golding's dark debut, Little Darlings, the story of a woman terrified that her newborn sons will be taken from her.

Find out more about the book and read or listen to an extract. And then grab a copy and join us in reading Little Darlings.

This month we'll be hosting an author Q&A rather than a live webchat. Post your question(s) for Melanie on this thread by noon, Friday 31 May. We'll then send over a selection to Melanie and post her answers up by 14 June.

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I've heard of this book. Might just go and buy it

This book was gripping, I didn’t want to put it down. A perfect mix of real life and folklore which really kept you guessing as to which world the main characters were inhabiting.

Ooh I’m ready for a new book I might check this out. Anyone else got a review?

There are 122 reviews on Amazon.

Hi folks! Thanks for your feedback on Little Darlings so far. Don't forget to post your questions for Melanie ahead of the Q&A deadline at the end of the month

Couldn't put this book down. It was chilling in places and at times I half expected Baba Yaga to appear. I'm still undecided as to what I think happened with the babies and Lauren - I'd like to go with the folklore!

I'd like to ask Melanie what she envisages happening in the future for Lauren? Does Patrick have an agenda - it seems like he has, although we only have Lauren's version of events to go on.

So excited to start this tonight!!!

I love the ambiguity running through the book, as to whether she was really experiencing everything she thought she was. Did you do a lot of research into postnatal depression/psychosis?

I have just read the extract and was hooked. So much reminded me of my own experience giving birth..Just very glad there was no terrifying witch type woman there insisting we swap babies! I think with the amount of drugs I had been given at the time the mind could easily conjure up such ghastly images and nightmares. It was brilliantly written and I can't wait to read the whole book

Hello! Just a reminder that we'll be sending over your questions to Melanie soon, so do get them in before midday tomorrow. Thanks!

Hi Melanie, congratulations on your book!

When you start writing a novel, do you always know how the story will end or do your ideas change as you build your characters and their story?

Hi Melanie

I really enjoyed the book, it had me on edge and second guessing throughout!

What’s next for you - will you be tackling something lighter or will it be another thriller?

Hello Melanie, Just downloaded your book , and planning to read over weekend!

What writers and genres do you enjoy reading?

Hello Melanie

I have just finished writing a short children's story book with illustrations. How do l introduce it to bookshops and where is the best place to get it printed (bearing in mind that l am on a budget and don't wish to involve agents)? Thankyou

Hi all - apologies for the delay on posting these answers back. They will be here very shortly.

We also asked Melanie the questions we ask all our Book of the Month authors:

What was your favourite childhood book?

What was the last book you gave to someone as a gift?

What was the last book you read?

Can you describe the room(s) where you wrote Little Darlings?

@FernieB

Couldn't put this book down. It was chilling in places and at times I half expected Baba Yaga to appear. I'm still undecided as to what I think happened with the babies and Lauren - I'd like to go with the folklore!

I'd like to ask Melanie what she envisages happening in the future for Lauren? Does Patrick have an agenda - it seems like he has, although we only have Lauren's version of events to go on.

Thanks for your question! So pleased you enjoyed the book. I trust that Lauren is going to do the right thing once she gets out of hospital. I feel a bit sorry for Patrick in a way, because I think she’s going to make sure he pays for what he did.

@Saucery

I love the ambiguity running through the book, as to whether she was really experiencing everything she thought she was. Did you do a lot of research into postnatal depression/psychosis?

I spoke to a lot of women who had been through traumatic birth experiences and many of those had also experienced PND, or PTSD that had been misdiagnosed as PND. Postpartum psychosis is very rare, but I did meet one or two people who had also been diagnosed with this, though they didn’t need to be hospitalised in the way that Lauren is. I watched a wonderful documentary on a mother-and-baby psychiatric unit which gave me so much to work with, and I spoke to two doctors: a psychiatrist and a paediatric specialist, to make sure details were correct.

@Ren1974

Hi Melanie, congratulations on your book!

When you start writing a novel, do you always know how the story will end or do your ideas change as you build your characters and their story?

Thank you so much! I always know the beginning and the end. The middle is the part that needs working out.

@bettyskitchen

Hi Melanie

I really enjoyed the book, it had me on edge and second guessing throughout!

What’s next for you - will you be tackling something lighter or will it be another thriller?

So glad you enjoyed it. The second book is another thriller with one foot in the world of folklore, so hopefully you will enjoy it just as much!

@CoolCarrie

Hello Melanie, Just downloaded your book , and planning to read over weekend!

What writers and genres do you enjoy reading?

I read very widely, depends what takes my fancy. I love literary fiction such as (recently) Normal People by Sally Rooney and A Girl is a Half Formed Thing by Eimear Mcbride, historical fiction such as The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry and Burial Rites by Hannah Kent, and genre fiction such as Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough and anything by Lee Child. I love all of Maggie O’Farrell and Kate Atkinson and Jeanette Winterson, Toni Morrison, Stephen King, Lawrence Block.

@ruki79

Hello Melanie

I have just finished writing a short children's story book with illustrations. How do l introduce it to bookshops and where is the best place to get it printed (bearing in mind that l am on a budget and don't wish to involve agents)? Thankyou

I’m afraid I don’t know much about the illustrated children’s book market at all! So sorry not to be able to help. You could try buying a copy of the Children’s Writer’s and Artist’s Yearbook and seeing what the publisher’s criteria are. They will all be listed in there – such a very helpful book full of information about the publishing industry.

@SorchaMumsnet

We also asked Melanie the questions we ask all our Book of the Month authors:

What was your favourite childhood book?

What was the last book you gave to someone as a gift?

What was the last book you read?

Can you describe the room(s) where you wrote Little Darlings?

Favourite childhood book - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis

The last book you gave to someone as a gift - I gave my mother An Unremarkable Body by Elisa Lodato, a favourite author of mine.

The last book you read - I read an early proof of The Recovery of Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel and it blew me away. I think this book is destined for great success.

The room(s) where you wrote Little Darlings? - There are several rooms - the kitchen of our old house at 5am; the bedroom of our current house (complete with ugly hole in plaster from a persistent leaking pipe); the front room on the sofa; the big café in town. I’m a bit of a laptop-using butterfly!