[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.

[4] Golding had first begun working on a short story about changelings set in the modern day because the folklore frightened her, which became much longer than she originally planned.

[6] 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.

[5][6] Selverton, the fictional town in which the story takes place, is based upon the real life village of Ashopton which was submerged to create the Ladybower Reservoir.

Her husband Patrick is uninvolved and she begins to feel increasingly isolated as her fears that the woman from the maternity ward is stalking her are dismissed by authorities as psychosis.

She attempts to drown the newly found infants in a local reservoir, believing this to be the only way to bring back her abducted children, and is institutionalized in a psychiatric hospital.

[10] British film director Roger Michell purchased the rights to adapt the book and began writing a screenplay based on it prior to its publication.

[11] The book received mostly positive reviews from critics,[12] who praised its plot, eerie writing style,[2] characterization, and exploration of themes related to childbirth and parental anxiety.