Genre: Literary Fiction, Horror
Published: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, February 2025 My Rating: 2/5 stars
To start off this review, I have to say that I'm slightly devastated that I didn’t love this the way I hoped I would. I was first introduced to Lucy Rose’s writing through their excellent short-story in the collection Of the Flesh and have been eagerly anticipating their debut novel ever since. I’m slightly devastated that I didn’t love this the way I hoped I would, so much so that I had a little cognitive dissonance upon finishing it, unsure how I actually felt. In the end, I’m shelving this under “me-figuring-out-horror-tropes-I’m-tired-off”. Spoilers: I likely will stay away from any cannibalism-novels for the foreseeable future.
The story:
Margot and Mama live an isolated life in a cottage tucked away by the forest. Every now and then, a Stray arrives at their doorstep: someone lost in the forest, looking for a warm drink or meal, or a place to rest overnight. Mama takes them in with the warmest welcome she can give. She nurtures them, feeds them and loves them, before turning on the oven and roasting them to consume their flesh. This is the only life Margot has ever known, until one Stray changes their dynamic forever. Eden is the first Stray who isn’t appalled by their lifestyle and Mama quickly falls in love with her white-tooth-smile and bloodthirst to rival her own. As tensions in the cottage rise, Margots begins to fear that Mama, despite her appetite, only has room for 1 girl in her heart.
What I liked:
I loved the sense of folkloric dread that Rose’s writing style evoked in the short-story that introduced me to her. That same dense Grimm-like atmosphere was present here too, likely spurred on by the obvious parallels to the Hansel and Grettel fairytale. Throughout the first 100 pages or so, I was really enjoying the vibes, questions and the themes that were being set up. (more on those in the section about elements I didn’t love). This would make for an interesting book to discuss in a book club, as there’s a lot to cover.
Regardless of my personal opinion on the story, I feel like this book had a clear “esthetic” in mind, which I’m sure will have appeal to many. A little gothic, a little cottage-core, a lot of female rage and desire and a decent heaping of gore. It’s pink-splatter, but with a literary sauce. Personally, I don’t think I’ve ever loved a book within this highly specific subgenre, but if you are one of the countless women who eat this up; here’s another one to feast your eyes on.
What I didn’t like:
As mentioned, cannibal-horror has become somewhat of a popular trope in literary-horror recently. Think Tender Is the Flesh, A Certain Hunger, Nightbitch, Lapvona, Bloom... Many of them even parallel motherhood and cannibalism, in a brand of domestic horror that has taken flight recently too. Herein lies the root of my problem with The Lamb; it’s just another dime a dozen. From the first page on, you know exactly where this will end, and what beats it will follow to get there. And it does just that, without subverting any of these expectations.
Even within its genre, it’s not my favourite execution. The novel tries to juggle metaphors for themes like domestic abuse, queer love, parental love and more. Unfortunately those metaphors were só on the nose, that I think I lost my glasses along the way, because there was no room left for them. The lack of any sort of subtlety or surprise throughout the story made it hard to justify the 300-page length. The same depth of exploration could’ve been reached in a short-story format, and would’ve made for a more satisfying experience.
On a more subjective note: I personally don’t vibe with horror that relies on shock-value, rather than intrinsic- or psychological dread. This book toes that line and falls into the former category with its ending. I feel like the author intended for the ending to be an emotional gut-punch, but due to the amount of darkness and gore, it was just a twist in the stomach instead for me, and took away from the impact.
I’m still interested to see what Lucy Rose does in the future, and if she ever pens more short-fiction, I’ll be the first in line to get a taste. For a debut full-length novel, I’m afraid this had too little meat on its bones for my taste.
Find this book here on Goodreads.
