Month: December 2025

Audiobook review – “The Lamb” by Lucy Rose

I am still working my way through the Booker shortlist so no further reviews to offer there at this point in time, so I’d like to share with you, a book I listened to on audio a few months ago. This is the first novel from young writer Lucy Rose (although she has a number of short film credits to her name) and I feel sure it will not be her last. I understand that this book falls into the sub-genre of fem-gore and I can’t think of anything I have read that is quite like it. 

The novel is set in a small town in Cumbria. The era is not specified; it seems contemporary, but there is an air of datedness about the setting that suggests somewhere left behind, or even timeless, removed from the modern world of technology. The story centres on the relationship between Margot, whose age is not stated, but who seems pre-adoloescent, and her Mama. There is no father – he disappeared a long time ago. Margot and her mother live in a remote rural location close to the woods in a dilapidated cottage. They live an isolated life although Margot does go to school – she walks to the main road to pick up the school bus. The bus driver is one of the few people outside of the home that Margot has any meaningful interactions with. He clearly has some concerns about Margot and her home life. Margot has one school friend. 

Quite early on in the book it becomes clear why Margot’s Mama wishes to live away from prying eyes; she has cannibalistic urges and fulfils these by luring lone wanderers from the woods (whom she terms “strays”), and killing and eating them. The descriptions are graphic, not for the faint-hearted, but powerful and vivid. Mama is a damaged individual – she has devastating mood swings and is unable to care for her daughter. She is neglectful both physically and emotionally. But of course, Margot knows no different and loves her mother. She seems to have a sense that their lifestyle is unusual, and Mama instils in her a deep suspicion of the outside world which compels her to maintain secrecy about their lives. 

There is a sense that the state of affairs cannot continue indefinitely. One day, a “stray” called Eden arrives at the house. Initially, Mama plans to kill her, just like all the others, but Eden seems to have a hold over Mama. Tensions arise in the three-way relationship between Margot, her Mama and their visitor. Margot’s approaching adolescence also threatens to upset the hitherto peculiar equilibrium of the household and a point is reached where action must be taken.

This is a startling but utterly compelling novel. It is violent, graphic, sexually explicit and very dark, but the psychological horror makes it a real page-turner. The main characters of Margot, Mama and Eden are powerfully drawn and convincing even though their actions beggar belief. Even the minor characters, like the bus driver, add real depth to the story. 

We read it in my book club and all loved it. The audiobook is brilliantly read by Emma Rydal who brings some very special qualities to her narration.

Highly recommended.

Literary adventures in the Netherlands

Relaxing Zeeland

I spent a couple of weeks in my beloved Zeeland recently, a place we have been visiting annually for almost 25 years now. It’s a place where you meet so few Brits and I often find myself feeling the need to explain why I would holiday in such a remote and seemingly unprepossessing place. I am always shocked, therefore when, very occasionally, I bump into someone who knows exactly where I am talking about. This happened just a couple of days ago while chatting to someone I have not met before in my organisation, who is Dutch and knew exactly every town I was talking about!

Middelburg, the main city in the province of Zeeland might just be my favourite place in the world and the only other place I would want to settle permanently outside of Greater Manchester or the UK. It is more of a large town than a city and it is beautiful and relaxing and historic and friendly. It also has probably the best bookshop in Zeeland, a wonderful independent store called De Drukkery, a must-see if you ever find yourself in this part of Europe.

Getting ready for Kerstmas in the Markt, the main square in Middelburg

This trip was our longest ever and very off-season – now that we are not so bound by school term times. We decided to take a trip to Den Haag, just a couple of hours by train from our nearest train station in Goes. Den Haag is a city we have visited briefly before and were very impressed with so wanted to spend a bit more time there. It does not pack as big a punch as Amsterdam or Rotterdam (both of which are actually very close by) but it is a lovely city, rather more relaxed and less touristy than its brasher neighbours. It is also the home of the Dutch parliament and most government ministries, the offices of the Dutch royal family, the International Court of Justice and many international embassies, so it has a feeling of gravitas and authority about it.

The Binnenhof, the home of the Dutch parliament is one of the oldest parliamentary estates in the world still in use. It is undergoing some extensive renovation at the moment so we were unable to visit it. The International Court of Justice is housed in the stunning Peace Palace – again, unfortunately, it was not open to visitors on the days we were there, but I feel sure we will go back.

The Binnenhof, Den Haag

I did not mind this too much as my main objective was actually to visit the world famous Mauritshuis museum, a lifelong ambition of mine. This is a small and stunning museum, located close to the Binnenhof that houses two paintings with literary connections – Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring and The Goldfinch by Carel Fabritius.

I adore Vermeer’s work – it captures everything that Holland means to me. There was an exhibition of almost all of Vermeer’s paintings at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam in 2023. I would have made a special trip to go and see it, but it very quickly sold out so I was unable to get tickets (although I have just learned that there is a documentary about it now available on Amazon Prime). Girl with a Pearl Earring did not have to travel very far as the Rijksmuseum is less than 60km from the Mauritshuis, the home of the painting since 1902. Tracy Chevalier hit literary gold with her 1999 novel of the same name. It was only her second book and it made her name. I remember reading the book when it came out and I absolutely loved it. It was also what stimulated my interest in the work of Vermeer. We made out first visit to Zeeland in 2002 and I have been in love with the Netherlands and with painting from the Dutch Golden Age (broadly, the 17th century) ever since.

If it was a joy to see Girl with a Pearl Earring in real life, Fabritius’s The Goldfinch (Het Puttertje in Dutch) took my breath away and brought tears to my eyes. It is tiny, a little over 30cm high and 20cm wide, and it is so simple, but so deeply captivating – a wild bird, fixed to a perch by a delicate chain. The colours are muted and earthy, apart from a dash of yellow gold on the bird’s wing. The shadow of the bird on the plastered wall behind it creates a sense of foreboding and shows the painter’s skill at creating a sense of light and shade.

Donna Tartt’s book of the same name is one of my all-time favourite reads – I read it about five years ago and it sparked my interest in both this painting (which I had only been vaguely aware of up to that point) and the painter Carel Fabritius. His story is also a fascinating one – he died in an explosion in the city of Delft in 1654 (the year The Goldfinch was completed), at the tender age of 32. His canon consists of only thirteen known paintings, others are assumed to have been lost in the tragedy in Delft which claimed his life. I read Laura Cumming’s excellent biography of the painter, Thunderclap, earlier this year and it has made me want to see all of his works in real life. I now have three under my belt – in addition to The Goldfinch, I saw Young Man in a Fur Cap and A View of Delft, with a Musical Instrument Seller’s Stall on a visit to the National Gallery last January. There are three more in the Netherlands (in Amsterdam and Rotterdam) which I am sure I will get to see at some point, a further two in Germany and Poland, and all the rest but one are in North America. Sadly, I suspect the one in the Pushkin museum in Moscow will never be ticked off.

The town of Delft, where Fabritius died, and also the home of Vermeer (there is a museum there dedicated to him), is just a half an hour tram ride from Den Haag. We paid a brief visit to the town and will definitely go back as it is beautiful.

So, another magical, inspiring and restorative visit to the Netherlands and to Zeeland, a place hardly anyone thinks to visit. Their loss, but that suits me just fine!