Synopses & Reviews
MARY LAMB--a dutiful daughter, well liked by just about everyone--killed her own mother with a knife. She spent the rest of her life in and out of madhouses, yet the crime and its aftermath opened up a life that no woman of her time or class could have expected. Free to read extensively, Lamb discovered her talent for writing. She and her brother, the essayist Charles Lamb, embarked on a literary collaboration that resulted in the famous Tales from Shakespeare. Confidante to many of Britain's Romantics including Coleridge. Godwin, and Wordsworth, Mary Lamb stood at the vibrant center of a colorful literary circle. Through a deep reading of history, letters, and literature. Susan Tyler Hitchcock brings to life an intriguing portrait of Lamb and her world. This narrative of a nearly forgotten woman becomes a tapes-try of insights into creativity and madness, the changing lives of women, and the redemptive power of the written word.
Synopsis
After killing her mother with a carving knife, Mary Lamb spent the rest of her life in and out of madhouses; yet the crime and its aftermath opened up a new life. Freed to read extensively, she discovered her talent for writing and, with her brother, the essayist Charles Lamb, collaborated on the famous . This narrative of a nearly forgotten woman is a tapestry of insights into creativity and madness, the changing lives of women, and the redemptive power of the written word.
Synopsis
This text discusses how Mary Lamb, incarcerated within madhouses after killing her mother, became the confidante of such Romantics as Coleridge and Wordsworth and accessed literature in a way that would have been normally impossible for a woman of her class and time.
Synopsis
"An informed and sympathetic portrait of a troubled mind and humble heart." --
About the Author
Susan Tyler Hitchcock's last book was Mad Mary Lamb: Lunacy and Murder in Literary London. Married with two children, she lives near Charlottesville, Virginia.