I went back and forth on whether to read Madeline Cash’s Lost Lambs, partly the cover, partly the emphasis on humour, but I read a few reviews one of which emphatically told ditherers like me to get on with it. Cash’s novel follows the supremely dysfunctional Flynn family shortly after Catherine, frustrated with her life as a stay-at-home mother, unilaterally declares her marriage open.
The “arrangement” was better for everyone. A moral loophole. A creative outlet in the vastness of monogamy. Bud might even enjoy it too.
Catherine and Bud have three daughters: seventeen-year-old Abigail, a beauty who’s fallen for a taciturn ex-mercenary known as War Crimes Wes; Louise, a classic middle child struggling to make her mark, flattered by the ‘boyfriend’ she’s met in a chatroom who’s urging her to buy large amounts of fertiliser and Harper, a precocious eleven-year-old, too clever for her own good as her mother frequently tells her. The Flynns are Catholics but shortly after Catherine makes her announcement, their daughters cease attending mass much to Father Andrew’s consternation. Now their father’s sleeping in his minivan, Father Andrew suggests he attends the Lost Lamb group run by Ms Winkle little knowing he’s sowing the seeds for another extramarital relationship. With their mother turning her back on domesticity, her daughters run amok. Meanwhile, Bud notices something odd in the Alabaster Harbour accounts for which he’s responsible, War Crimes Wes worries about youth-obsessed, tech billionaire Paul Alabaster’s interest in Abigail and Harper becomes convinced that the town’s local art installation is a spying device.
“He’s a capital-B Billionaire,” said the man, “Course he acts funny. No one with that kinda dough is totally right in the head.”
There’s a lot of wise-cracking, sardonic humour in Cash’s novel which appeals to me but may not suit everyone. While the first part follows the fallout from Catherine’s declaration – the hapless Bud’s relationship with the homely Ms Winkle who he finds more attractive than toned Catherine; their daughters’ dangerous pursuits with no parental supervision – the novel takes a dark turn about two-thirds of the way through as an apparently ridiculous conspiracy theory turns out to be true and nefarious dealings are uncovered. Not an entirely successful change of direction for me but I’d enjoyed the first part enough to go along with it and was rewarded with an ending which sees the dysfunctional Flynn family expanded, happier and more diverse.
Doubleday: London 9781529946123 240 pages Hardback (read via NetGalley)
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I love this cover and like the sound of sardonic humour. I’m a bit intrigued by the change of direction too. Great review
I suspect that’s a Marmite cover as we say here in the UK! Definitely worth reading if you enjoy that kind of humour. I hope you enjoy it if you get to it.
I’m reading this right now and I’m still not sure what I think…but I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it!
Thank you! I’d be interested to see what think of it when you’ve finished.
I don’t think this is for me but I can see it could be a fun read at the right time!
I think you can safely leave this one!
I’m not sure I would make room for this one, although I do like the sound of the humour.
That’s what kept me going.
I read an interview with Cash in Saturday’s Irish Times and I got the impression that the book is a very dark story as she did a lot of research on thriller type writing to write the book. Is it like this?
It does become quite dark, exploring conspiracy theories, which didn’t entirely work for me. I thought her portrayal of the supremely dysfunctional Flynns worked much better.
Oh no, I think I only JUST stopped feeling as though that lamb was staring at me from the last time that cover appeared here (perhaps when you were contemplating the read). Marmite, maybe, as I can’t stop staring but I don’t exactly feel good about it either. It does sound like fun though, especially the conspiracy theory turning out to be true–it feels as though those situations usually go the other way.
It’s an odd choice for a cover, but it is eye-catching, I suppose. I hope you’ll forget it soon!
I’m 50 pages in and loving it so far. Harper is fab! I’ll be interested to see if the author’s ‘gnat’ification carries on throughout the novel, or does it peter out? It makes me giggle every time I see one, for now at least!
Lips are sealed! I think if it’s clicked so far, you’ll enjoy the rest.