The Lamb
The bestselling literary sensation of 2025
-
- 10,99 €
Publisher Description
THE #2 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
A gripping, sinister folktale set in contemporary Cumbria for fans of Sophie Mackintosh, Angela Carter, Daisy Johnson, Margaret Atwood and Julia Armfield
'A new generation of literary horror begins with Lucy Rose'
GENEVIEVE JAGGER
'Deliciously dark and shockingly bold. One of my favourite debuts in a long time'
KIRSTY LOGAN
'Superbly creepy . . . at heart it's about dysfunctional family dynamics, female rage and empowerment'
FINANCIAL TIMES
'An unforgettable, nightmarish tale. I ate it all up'
ANNA BOGUTSKAYA
A FOLK TALE. A HORROR STORY. A LOVE STORY. AN ENCHANTMENT.
Margot and Mama have lived by the forest since Margot can remember. When Margot isn't at school, they spend quiet days together in their cottage, waiting for strangers to knock on their door. Strays, Mama calls them. Mama loves the strays. She feeds them wine, keeps them warm. Then she satisfies her burning appetite by picking apart their bodies.
But Mama's want is stronger than her hunger sometimes, and when a white-toothed stray named Eden turns up in the heart of a snowstorm, little Margot must confront the shifting dynamics of her family, untangle her own desires and make a bid for freedom.
With this tender coming-of-age tale, debut novelist Lucy Rose explores how women swallow their anger, desire and animal instincts - and wrings the relationship between mother and daughter until blood drips from it.
'Stunning, shocking and surprising at each turn'
BENJAMIN MYERS
'A modern Grimm fairytale'
SUSAN BARKER
'Dark, poetic, gothic, folky and full of courage and beauty'
TIM DOWNIE
'Dear reader, I predict you will be as obsessed as me'
MOLLY AITKEN
'Lucy Rose can certainly write . . . The Lamb grips all the way to an unexpected denouement'
GUARDIAN
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Rose debuts with a potent and grotesque tale about a girl raised to be a cannibal. Margot learns from her mother to feed on "strays," people who stumble upon their cottage in an English forest seeking shelter. When Margot reaches puberty, her mother reacts with disgust, plucking the hair growing from her armpits and beating her. "Men are forever thought of as boys," she tells Margot. "But girls? Once we're mamas or once we're ripe, we can never be girls again." When a beautiful woman named Eden knocks on their door, Margot's mother invites her in and falls deeply in love. With Eden living with them, Margot's mother's hunger increases, causing Eden to worry their murderous lifestyle will be exposed. Meanwhile, Margot's kindly school bus driver notices a bruise on her cheek and asks if she's safe at home. She lies about what happened, trying not to break her mother's cardinal rule against drawing attention. The rule figures into the novel's dramatic final act, when Margot worries she'll be punished, perhaps even eaten, if she doesn't escape. Rose's portrayal of the cannibalism feels at once vividly real and metaphorical, satisfying both as horror and as a portrait of the dark side of feminine rage. This modern folktale hits hard.
