Book Review: Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash

‘Maximalist’ is a word that’s been used to described Madeline Cash’s buzzy debut novel, and it’s easy to see why.

Lost Lambs tells the story of the Flynn family, who are, to put it mildly, going through it. Youngest daughter Harper is so fiercely intelligent, no one knows what to do with her. Oldest daughter Abigail has started dating a man known, mysteriously and perturbingly, as ‘War Crimes Wes’. Meanwhile, middle child Louise is being groomed by an online fundamentalist, who’s started to instruct her on how to make explosives.

Perhaps their parents might be more concerned if they didn’t have so much of their own stuff going on. Mum Catherine, bored in her marriage and with the rigors of domesticity, has declared to her husband Bud that they are now in an open relationship, and she has started dating the neighbour. Bud isn’t thrilled with the arrangement, but then finds an unexpected connection with prim church lady Miss Winkle. He also, thanks to Harper’s help, realises there is something shady going on with the company he works for and the billionaire who runs it – the subsequent, messy investigation brings the whole family together in the most unexpected of ways.

There is so much going on in Lost Lambs, it sometimes feels like the standard sized novel is struggling to contain it. On occasion, you might wonder if it may have been a deeper, more satisfying read if one or two of the quirky side characters had been shorn, or a subplot hacked away, and we had had more time to get to know the central family. Indeed, by the time the central conspiracy plot has started to properly kick into gear, the story is almost over.

And yet there’s also a real cumulative effect here, which has enough gleeful, chaotic energy to drag along even quirk-sceptic readers. This is a book that benefits from being read in as few sittings as possible, partly so you don’t forget any of the extensive cast of characters, but mostly so as not to disrupt the propulsive plot – this is a novel that is ever in motion, even if the destination isn’t always clear. By the time we do actually reach that dramatic climax, the benefits of the journey are readily apparent, and we can see all the action play out before us with the colourful clarity of a Wes Anderson movie made after he’d watched a whole load of ‘70s conspiracy thrillers.

Although Lost Lambs goes to some wild places, above anything else, it’s a celebration of the unconventional in a world that forever tries to put people in boxes, and an acknowledgement that however old we get, we’ll never stop obsessing over trying to figure out the best way to live. There are probably no answers, but in the company of the Flynns, there’s plenty of joy in the searching. Hopefully, if Cash is so inclined, this won’t be the last we see of them.

★★★★

Lost Lambs is published by Doubleday on 5 February 2026