Lost Lambs
A Novel
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4.4 • 9 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
National bestseller. A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice. Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2026 by Vulture, Bustle, Good Housekeeping, Playboy, The Times (UK), Our Culture, Vol. 1 Brooklyn and Harper's Bazaar. Belletrist's Book Club pick.
"If the Royal Tenenbaums were middle-class and likable, they'd be this madcap family." —The New York Times Book Review
"With her energetic prose and restless imagination, Cash does one better than survey the world; she reinvents it." ―Hannah Gold, The New Yorker
“Madeline Cash is a voice like no other.” —Lena Dunham
Rippling with humor, warmth, and style, Lost Lambs is a new vision of the charms and pitfalls of family dysfunction.
The Flynn family is coming undone. Catherine and Bud's open marriage has reached its breaking point as their daughters spiral in their own chaotic orbits: Abigail, the eldest, is dating a man in his twenties nicknamed War Crime Wes; Louise, the middle child, maintains a secret correspondence with an online terrorist; the brilliant youngest, Harper, is being sent to wilderness reform camp due to her insistence that someone—or something—is monitoring the town’s citizens.
Casting a shadow across their lives, and their small coastal town, is Paul Alabaster, a billionaire shipping magnate. Rumors of corruption circulate, but no one dares dig too deep. No one except Harper, whose obsession with a mysterious shipping container sends the family hurtling into a criminal conspiracy—one that may just bring them closer together.
Irreverent and addictive, pinging between the voices of the Flynn family and those of the panorama of characters around them, Madeline Cash’s Lost Lambs is a debut novel of quick-witted observation and surprising tenderness. With it, Cash has crafted a family saga for the twenty-first century, all held together with crazy glue.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
A dysfunctional family juggles their myriad problems in this lively, offbeat comic novel. Bud Flynn realizes just how rocky his marriage has become when his wife, Catherine, announces she wants to open it up—and has her eyes set on their next-door neighbor. Bud joins a support group at his local church and ends up having a fling of his own with a frumpy but enthusiastic church lady. And the three Flynn daughters have their own eccentricities, from dating self-proclaimed war criminals and dabbling in Islamic fundamentalism to embracing a bizarre conspiracy theory concerning the local billionaire (one which may not be far from the truth). Madeline Cash’s debut novel is full of unexpected detours and quirky wit, and she gives her characters enough warmth and humanity that they come off as people, not punch lines. If you’re in the mood for some smart, off-the-wall laughs, give Lost Lambs a try.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Loaded with snarky one-liners and absurdist set pieces, Cash's glittering debut novel (after the collection Earth Angel) follows the middle-class Flynn family as they try and fail to find a sense of purpose. Their trouble starts when mom Catherine, an aspiring artist, proposes an "arrangement" that will allow her to pursue a romantic relationship with next-door neighbor Jim. Her husband, Bud, turns to the Lost Lambs support group at the local church, and shacks up with the moderator. Meanwhile, eldest daughter Abigail, 17, is dating a 20-something veteran known as War Crimes Wes because of rumors he "did some crazy shit in the war." Her 15-year-old sister Louise tells her priest she's been "experimenting with Islamic fundamentalism" and chats online with her Canadian "lover" known only as yours truly, who encourages her to take up bomb-making. Twelve-year-old Harper, the youngest, organizes a sit-in to raise awareness of what she believes is an evil surveillance program operated by tech billionaire Paul Alabaster. Cash has a finely tuned ear for the silliness of modern language (volunteer events have names like Apple Bobbing for Autism and Knitting for Narcolepsy), and she serves up wild slapstick and a twist of nasty horror before sending things out on a sweet and surprisingly sentimental note. The novel is anchored in its affection for the hapless but well-meaning Flynns, whose banter is endlessly irresistible ("Am I really the woman of your dreams?" Catherine asks. "Who cares!" Bud replies, "You're the woman of my reality"). It's unforgettable.
