Queen Mab

For readers seeking a book that will shake them, Queen Mab casts its eerie spell slowly, steadily deepening a spiral of misgivings and dread and changelings, until they are entirely entranced Doireann Ní Ghríofa, author of Said the Dead
A changeling child. A mother away with the fairies.
Madeleine is in her early twenties when she conceives on the night of a full moon. Having the baby will mean putting her doctoral studies on hold. Yet from the first flutter of new life, she feels its lure.
Then baby Maud arrives, sweet and tiny, worth every moment of a difficult labour. But when she is returned to Madeleines arms, something feels wrong. The child wont stop crying. Her eyes glint with an ancient cunning. Could she be an imposter, switched while Madeleine wasnt watching?
Meanwhile, the world carries on. Buses rumble through the city. Baristas steam milk. Alone in the crowd, Madeleine searches for a way to rid herself of this ravenous creature. On her walks with the pram, voices heckle from the hedgerows and mists unfurl across the pavement, beckoning her towards fairyland.
Full of lingering magic and riveting menace, Queen Mab is the story of the most elemental forms of transformation, and one womans path back to herself.
Smart, unsettling and tender Claudia Durastanti, author Strangers I Know
Perfectly captures those psychedelic, feral postpartum days Madeleine Watts, Elegy, Southwest
Darkly funny and devastating Rebecca Sarah Ley, author of Bad Fiction
Brave and powerful Samantha Hunt, author of The Dark Dark
Strange and bold. It takes no prisoners Claire Oshetsky, author of Chouette
A spellbinding account of early motherhood Lana Bastašić, author of Catch the Rabbit