According to Deadline, Bruna Papandrea’s (Big Little Lies, Gone Girl) production company Made Up Stories has acquired the rights to Darling Girls, The New York Times bestselling novel, to develop the IP into a television series. From author Sally Hepworth (The Good Sister, The Soulmate), production for the murder mystery adaptation is currently in the works.
The novel follows three sisters, Norah, Alicia and Jessica, as they return to the house they grew up in, only to discover a dark secret hidden beneath the house via Deadline. While the three believed growing up with their foster mother gave them a happy life after tragedy struck their family, returning to the home again allows them to reflect on this time in their lives. A deceased body is found under the home after returning for so long, and now the women must face the consequences of being key witnesses and prime suspects.
Deadline confirms that after the novel was released this year, it became an instant success internationally. The novel became a bestseller in Australia, where Hepworth is native to, and here in the U.S.
Management at Made Up Stories spoke on the newest adaptation, commenting, “We love making compelling thrillers at Made Up Stories with complex women at the centre. Sally’s brilliant book has four of them and, paired with Orlagh Collins’ adaptation, we’ve been left breathless” via Deadline.
Additionally, Hepworth commented on the partnership by saying, “I’m thrilled to be working with Bruna, Steve and Made Up Stories to adapt ‘Darling Girls’ for series. I’ve long admired their dynamic filmmaking and their passion for telling women’s stories, so I feel unbelievably lucky to partner with them to bring this particular story to life — one that examines three uniquely complex women at the centre of a murder investigation and the team of detectives who grossly underestimate their unbreakable bond of sisterhood,” per Deadline.
The series will have screenwriter Orlagh Collins (Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten, Mary Shelley) as showrunner and executive producer, confirms Deadline. Joining as executive producers are Hepworth and Rob Weisbach (Crazy for the Storm, Blackout) and Steve Hutensky (The Nightingale, The Dry), Katie Amos (Thor: Love and Thunder, Roar) and Papandrea are set as producers.