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 superbly creepy folk-horror tale . . . at heart it’s about dysfunctional family dynamics, female rage and empowerment’
FINANCIAL TIMES
‘A masterful, modern folktale . . . I’m not sure I can adequately explain how brilliant The Lamb is – let’s just say there is a reason that it’s set to be the literary debut of 2025′
HAZEL, BOOKSELLER
‘Deliciously dark and shockingly bold. One of my favourite debuts in a long time’
KIRSTY LOGAN
‘Lucy Rose can certainly write . . . The Lamb grips all the way to an unexpected denouement‘
GUARDIAN
‘Stunning, shocking and surprising at each turn – everything one would want from a novel, and so much more’
BENJAMIN MYERS
‘A new generation of literary horror begins with Lucy Rose’
GENEVIEVE JAGGER
‘This book has permanently changed my brain chemistry and the way I view the world’
CAITLIN, BOOKSELLER
‘An unforgettable, nightmarish tale. I ate it all up’
ANNA BOGUTSKAYA
‘Haunting. Brilliantly written. A masterpiece . . . one of the top novels of 2025’
AMOY, BOOKSELLER
‘A modern Grimm fairytale’
SUSAN BARKER
‘Dark, poetic, gothic, folky and full of courage and beauty’
TIM DOWNIE
‘I didn’t just like it, I loved it . . . This is absolutely going to be the feral girl novel of 2025’
RED, BOOKSELLER
‘Dear reader, I predict you will be as obsessed as me’
MOLLY AITKEN
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.
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Reviews
A gleefully gruesome tale . . . Femgore at its finest
An extraordinary piece of work, dark, poetic, gothic, folky and full of courage and beauty. Incredible
The Lamb is written in terse and pared back language then it bubbles like a simmering stove towards a memorable and nightmarish conclusion
This is the genius of Rose's folktale: she blurs the lines between hunger and gluttony, human and animal, love and revulsion. It's hypnotic, grotesque and beautiful all at once
Lyrical, poignant, unbearably tense, this is a dark folk horror that will linger long in the imagination. The observations of motherhood, girlhood, female friendships and rivalries, and the natural world are so beautifully wrought
Stunning, shocking and surprising at each turn - everything one would want from a novel, and so much more. Lucy Rose's fearful and fantastic imagination is a powerful weapon
The Lamb is a hard tale to shake
If you think you might be too squeamish for a book about cannibals, think again. Lucy Rose will lure you in with beautiful prose and captivate you with this story about finding voice and agency, and what it is (and isn't) to love and be loved
A potent and grotesque tale . . . A portrait of the dark side of feminine rage. This modern folktale hits hard
A modern Grimm fairytale. Heart-wrenching and sensuously lyrical, yet sinister, depraved and stomach-churningly good
Visceral and aching, The Lamb is a magnetic, monstrous tale of womanhood and desire. I devoured it, hungry for each and every word. Margot is going to haunt me forever
Lucy Rose is not afraid, and this bold, complex, shock of a novel proves that. Deliciously drawn, this feral folktale speaks to the sinister nature of the mother wound on a visceral level. Literary horror at its peak
What makes this twist on Hansel and Gretel particularly unsettling is the twilight world it occupies between the "safe" remove of folk tale and the clinical glare of realism . . . This dark, gorgeous concoction is layered with insights into the insidious perpetuation of family violence
Deliciously dark and shockingly bold - someone needs to make this into a film right now! Lucy Rose is one to watch. This is one of my favourite debuts in a long time
Lucy Rose is extraordinary. I devoured The Lamb in one evening and I have not stopped thinking about it since. Poetic, visceral and wildly addictive, I dare you not to fall in love with Rose's imagination. Consume this book and prepare for it to consume you
A nightmare fable . . . A troubling fever dream of a book that nevertheless compels you to follow it into the shadows
Lucy Rose weaves together flesh, bones and mommy issues with unsettling deftness to create an unforgettable, nightmarish tale. I ate it all up
A superbly creepy folk-horror tale . . . at heart it's about dysfunctional family dynamics, female rage and empowerment
The Lamb will lure you in and devour you whole. Lucy Rose perfectly captures the toxic wilderness of motherhood and daughterhood in this poetic and electrifying debut
A brutal meditation on motherhood, feminine rage, and what it takes to survive. It's equal parts scathing and sentimental
Outstanding and disturbing and transformative. A new generation of literary horror begins with Lucy Rose. Brutal yet tender, The Lamb is a book that refuses to offer its reader the easy way out. A masterclass in suspense with an unflinching focus on intergenerational violence, The Lamb will leave you with a twisting feeling on the inside. Sensational. Read now, before everyone you know gets there first
A strange and bold debut from an exciting new voice
Beautiful, terrifying . . . Rose's novel feels destined to become a classic . . . it reminded me of The Juniper Tree, one of the most enduring and powerful of folktales, with its message of retribution and renewal
Lucy Rose can certainly write . . . The Lamb grips all the way to an unexpected denouement that is as comfortless as it is eerie
A magnificent debut. Brutal yet tender, a dark fairytale pierced with light. Lucy Rose's writing is beautifully rendered, and her storytelling skills navigate the deepest intricacies of mother daughter relationships with an elegant hand that drips blood. The Lamb is a game-changer in the horror genre, and I will be thinking about it for a very long time
A dark, fearsome novel that sticks between your teeth. Rose writes about daughterhood with poetic clarity and tenderness
Grimms' Fairy Tales meets Mommie Dearest in a twisted debut novel about the complex hungers of mothers and daughters . . . The rich, almost unguent prose carries the story through its gruesome developments without, surprisingly, being gratuitous, as it digs deep into the viscera of the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters, lovers, and one's own physical and emotional hungers. A gruesome yet illuminating coming-of-age story that will keep readers awake night after night
The Lamb left me breathless. A beautiful, tender and disturbing novel, exploring mother-daughter relationships in a hugely ambitious and thought-provoking way. I loved it
Brilliantly raw and unflinching, The Lamb will lure you in and clutch hold of your heart. It's sweet, violent and unforgettable. Margot will steal your heart and linger long after the final page
The Lamb . . . is not out until January but it has already created a buzz
The Lamb is one of the most horrifying, beautiful, and memorable things I've read. It's gorgeously written, deeply disturbing, and incredibly moving . . . I was so invested in this strange, dark, coming-of-age tale. Its landscape hums with a sense of threat, but is also shot through with an unsettling beauty. Read it, and see nature, family, and humanity through Margot's eyes for a while, and you'll come out of it changed
The Lamb is a gorgeous, lyrical, evocative, hunger-inducing, and deeply moving novel that I just gobbled up, reading it totally compulsively right to the end
A dazzling and unique debut. The Lamb reeks of moss and blood - its visceral exploration of hunger, obsession, and depravity will cast a dark spell over you
This is the book I've been waiting for. Dark, twisted and utterly enthralling, The Lamb is a novel I will never forget. Lucy Rose's prose gave me chills, perfectly capturing the horrors and beauties of girlhood. Dear reader, I predict you will be as obsessed as me