Queen Mab - Emily McBride

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 Madeleine's arms, something feels wrong. The child won't stop crying. Her eyes glint with an ancient cunning. Could she be an imposter, switched while Madeleine wasn't 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 woman's path back to herself.