Lost Lambs

‘It’s funny, fast and intoxicating. Believe the hype’ DUA LIPA DUA’S SERVICE95 BOOK CLUB PICK FOR AUGUST ‘I LOVED IT, I RACED THROUGH IT. IT'S JUST FANTASTIC WRITING’ SARAH JESSICA PARKER ‘EXTREMELY SMART, IMPOSSIBLY FUNNY, AND JUST PLAIN FUN TO READ’ CARO CLAIRE BURKE, AUTHOR OF YESTERYEAR ‘A VOICE LIKE NO OTHER’ LENA DUNHAM Think your family is dysfunctional? Meet the Flynns. For the three Flynn daughters, it’s been disastrous since their parents opened up their marriage. Abigail, the eldest, is dating an ex-soldier several years her senior nicknamed ‘War Crimes Wes’. Louise, the middle child, maintains a secret correspondence with an online terrorist. And the brilliant youngest, Harper, is being sent to a wilderness reform camp due to her insistence that someone – or something – is monitoring the town’s citizens. Casting a shadow across their lives is Paul Alabaster, a nefarious local billionaire. Rumours of corruption circulate, but no one dares dig too deep. No one except Harper, whose obsession with Alabaster’s machinations sends the family hurtling into a criminal conspiracy – one that may just, finally, bring them closer together. SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2026 The instant Sunday Times bestseller 'I LAUGHED SO HARD I SLIPPED A DISC' BILLIE PIPER 'ECCENTRIC, FUNNY, DEEPLY HUMAN... I LOVED EVERY PAGE' EMMA ROBERTS ‘THE MOST WILDLY ORIGINAL BOOK OF THE YEAR’ HARPER’S BAZAAR ‘THE DEBUT NOVEL FOR 2026 THAT HAS UNDOUBTEDLY BEEN THE MOST SHOUTED ABOUT’ THE SUNDAY TIMES STYLE ‘A DARKLY FUNNY FAMILY SAGA’ BUSTLE ‘AN INSTANT CLASSIC’ SHORTLIST Readers love LOST LAMBS ‘What a ROMP!’ ‘The hype is real!’ ‘Hilarious, weird, original and addictive!’ ‘If Wes Anderson wrote Little Women .’ ‘I’m shouting it from every rooftop: THIS IS THE BOOK OF THE YEAR!’ ‘Perhaps the funniest book I’ve ever read.’

‘It’s funny, fast and intoxicating. Believe the hype’ DUA LIPA DUA’S SERVICE95 BOOK CLUB PICK FOR AUGUST ‘I LOVED IT, I RACED THROUGH IT. IT'S JUST FANTASTIC WRITING’ SARAH JESSICA PARKER ‘EXTREMELY SMART, IMPOSSIBLY FUNNY, AND JUST PLAIN FUN TO READ’ CARO CLAIRE BURKE, AUTHOR OF YESTERYEAR ‘A VOICE LIKE NO OTHER’ LENA DUNHAM Think your family is dysfunctional? Meet the Flynns. For the three Flynn daughters, it’s been disastrous since their parents opened up their marriage. Abigail, the eldest, is dating an ex-soldier several years her senior nicknamed ‘War Crimes Wes’. Louise, the middle child, maintains a secret correspondence with an online terrorist. And the brilliant youngest, Harper, is being sent to a wilderness reform camp due to her insistence that someone – or something – is monitoring the town’s citizens. Casting a shadow across their lives is Paul Alabaster, a nefarious local billionaire. Rumours of corruption circulate, but no one dares dig too deep. No one except Harper, whose obsession with Alabaster’s machinations sends the family hurtling into a criminal conspiracy – one that may just, finally, bring them closer together. SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2026 The instant Sunday Times bestseller 'I LAUGHED SO HARD I SLIPPED A DISC' BILLIE PIPER 'ECCENTRIC, FUNNY, DEEPLY HUMAN... I LOVED EVERY PAGE' EMMA ROBERTS ‘THE MOST WILDLY ORIGINAL BOOK OF THE YEAR’ HARPER’S BAZAAR ‘THE DEBUT NOVEL FOR 2026 THAT HAS UNDOUBTEDLY BEEN THE MOST SHOUTED ABOUT’ THE SUNDAY TIMES STYLE ‘A DARKLY FUNNY FAMILY SAGA’ BUSTLE ‘AN INSTANT CLASSIC’ SHORTLIST Readers love LOST LAMBS ‘What a ROMP!’ ‘The hype is real!’ ‘Hilarious, weird, original and addictive!’ ‘If Wes Anderson wrote Little Women .’ ‘I’m shouting it from every rooftop: THIS IS THE BOOK OF THE YEAR!’ ‘Perhaps the funniest book I’ve ever read.’

"I can't remember the last time a novel made me laugh so hard or feel so much tenderness for its characters." --Leslie Jamison, author of Splinters "Madeline Cash is a voice like no other." --Lena Dunham "I've read entire books that contain less wit and inventiveness than a single one of Cash's sentences." --Eric Puchner, New York Times- bestselling author of Dream State "With a big surge of energy, Lost Lambs splits the nucleus of the American family." --Tony Tulathimutte, author of Rejection Rippling with humor, warmth, and style, Lost Lambs is a new vision of the charms and pitfalls of family dysfunction. The Flynn family is coming undone. Catherine and Bud's open marriage has reached its breaking point as their daughters spiral in their own chaotic orbits: Abigail, the eldest, is dating a man in his twenties nicknamed War Crime Wes; Louise, the middle child, maintains a secret correspondence with an online terrorist; the brilliant youngest, Harper, is being sent to wilderness reform camp due to her insistence that someone--or something--is monitoring the town's citizens. Casting a shadow across their lives, and their small coastal town, is Paul Alabaster, a billionaire shipping magnate. Rumors of corruption circulate, but no one dares dig too deep. No one except Harper, whose obsession with a mysterious shipping container sends the family hurtling into a criminal conspiracy--one that may just bring them closer together. Irreverent and addictive, pinging between the voices of the Flynn family and those of the panorama of characters around them, Madeline Cash's Lost Lambs is a debut novel of quick-witted observation and surprising tenderness. With it, Cash has crafted a family saga for the twenty-first century, all held together with crazy glue.

"I can't remember the last time a novel made me laugh so hard or feel so much tenderness for its characters." --Leslie Jamison, author of Splinters "Madeline Cash is a voice like no other." --Lena Dunham "I've read entire books that contain less wit and inventiveness than a single one of Cash's sentences." --Eric Puchner, New York Times- bestselling author of Dream State "With a big surge of energy, Lost Lambs splits the nucleus of the American family." --Tony Tulathimutte, author of Rejection Rippling with humor, warmth, and style, Lost Lambs is a new vision of the charms and pitfalls of family dysfunction. The Flynn family is coming undone. Catherine and Bud's open marriage has reached its breaking point as their daughters spiral in their own chaotic orbits: Abigail, the eldest, is dating a man in his twenties nicknamed War Crime Wes; Louise, the middle child, maintains a secret correspondence with an online terrorist; the brilliant youngest, Harper, is being sent to wilderness reform camp due to her insistence that someone--or something--is monitoring the town's citizens. Casting a shadow across their lives, and their small coastal town, is Paul Alabaster, a billionaire shipping magnate. Rumors of corruption circulate, but no one dares dig too deep. No one except Harper, whose obsession with a mysterious shipping container sends the family hurtling into a criminal conspiracy--one that may just bring them closer together. Irreverent and addictive, pinging between the voices of the Flynn family and those of the panorama of characters around them, Madeline Cash's Lost Lambs is a debut novel of quick-witted observation and surprising tenderness. With it, Cash has crafted a family saga for the twenty-first century, all held together with crazy glue.