The Lamb: The literary debut of 2025

(Paperback)

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A gripping, sinister folktale set in contemporary Cumbria for fans of Sophie Mackintosh, Angela Carter, Daisy Johnson, Margaret Atwood and Julia Armfield. Pre-order now.

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 is not 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 her own bid for freedom.

With this gothic 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.

Reviews

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 -- Kirsty Logan, author of NOW SHE IS WITCH
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 -- Molly Aitken, author of BRIGHT I BURN
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 -- Victoria Hawthorne, author of THE DARKEST NIGHT

Author Bio

Lucy Rose is a writer and filmmaker with an interest in the gothic, girlhood and horror. Her short fiction and personal essays have been published in Dread Central, Mslexia, Ghouls on Film and more. She's proud to be a Curtis Brown Creative Breakthrough alumni writer and one of Mslexia's featured columnists and fiction writers. In early 2023, she was awarded Arts Council DYCP funding for literary development. She currently lives in Newcastle.