The Lamb by Lucy Rose

A HORROR STORY. A LOVE STORY. AN ENCHANTMENT.
 
A gripping, sinister folktale set in contemporary Cumbria.
 
'On my fourth birthday, I plucked six severed fingers from the shower drain...'

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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'Deliciously dark and shockingly bold ... This is one of my favourite debuts in a long time' - Kirsty Logan
 
'Outstanding and disturbing and transformative. A new generation of literary horror begins with Lucy Rose. Brutal yet tender, The Lamb s 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.' - Genevieve Jagger
 
'The Lamb is one of the most horrifying, beautiful, and memorable things I've read. It's gorgeously written, deeply disturbing, and incredibly moving . . . ' - Sarah Brooks,