The Lamb

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.

Review

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

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 -- Benjamin Myers, author of CUDDY

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 -- Genevieve Jagger, author of FRAGILE ANIMALS

Lucy Rose weaves together flesh, bones and mommy issues with unsettling deftness to create an unforgettable, nightmarish tale. I ate it all up -- Anna Bogutskaya, author of FEEDING THE MONSTER

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

Wild, evocative, and deeply felt, I was hooked on The Lamb from the first sentence. Reading Lucy Rose is like gently sliding your hand into the open mouth of a wolf - tender, terrifying, and exhilarating all at once -- Sarah Rose Etter, author of RIPE

A dark, fearsome novel that sticks between your teeth. Rose writes about daughterhood with poetic clarity and tenderness -- Amy Twigg, author of SPOILT CREATURES

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 -- Sarah Brooks, author of THE CAUTIOUS TRAVELLER'S GUIDE TO THE WASTELANDS

About the Author

Lucy Rose is a bestselling writer and award-winning filmmaker. Her short fiction and personal essays have been published in the Observer, Dread Central, Mslexia and more. Lucy Rose was selected as a Forbes '30 Under 30' in 2025. Raised in Cumbria, she currently lives in Newcastle.