Library Journal
Though not particularly well known, Mary Lamb had an intriguing if tragic life. While her brothers were classically trained, Mary's fate as a woman in the 18th century was to be a seamstress, working long, grueling hours while caring for her ill parents. The constant grind finally put Mary over the edge; in 1796 she stabbed her mother to death in a fit of madness. Mary would spend the rest of her life in and out of the asylum. Watson (The Crossing) spends a good deal of time discussing Mary's madness and the attitudes toward her condition at the time. However, she also paints a broader picture, focusing mainly on Mary's literary talents and especially her loving relationship with her younger brother, Charles, who had much success as a writer but spent the better part of his life dutifully caring for Mary. Watson writes with great sympathy about the relationship between these two siblings, who gained fame and critical acclaim with Tales from Shakespeare. Also covered are their eminent social circle of friends, including Coleridge and Wordsworth. Recommended for all public libraries. Isabel Coates, CCRA- Toronto West Tax Office, Mississauga, Ont. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
British biographer Watson (The Crossing, 2001) paints a sympathetic and revealing portrait of Charles Lamb's older sister Mary (1764-1847), one of the most important female writers of the Regency period. John Lamb was a waiter at the Inner Temple, home of London's elite barristers. Given educations suitable to their stations, his children lived comfortably until the death of their father's patron forced a move to shabbier quarters, where the family became dependent on the children's earnings. Mary, trained as a seamstress, had the added burden of caring for their sickly mother, whom she stabbed to death with a kitchen knife on September 22, 1796. Charles took the weapon from Mary's hand and led her away to an insane asylum. Courts determined that she was not responsible for her actions and, after her illness abated, released her to Charles's custody. For the rest of her life, Mary suffered periods of institutionalization when her illness (probably bipolar disorder) reached periodic crises. In between episodes, she and Charles carried on a curious existence, in which his earnings as a clerk at East India House supported a bohemian lifestyle in the company of some of the best-known writers and intellectuals of the era. Wordsworth and Coleridge were lifelong friends of the Lambs; Southey, De Quincey, Hazlitt, Leigh Hunt, and William Godwin regularly attended their Thursday evening affairs. Godwin published their masterpiece, Tales from Shakespeare, for which Mary did the bulk of the work. Watson keeps the focus on Mary, detailing her friendship with Sarah Stoddart, who married Hazlitt, and her correspondence with Dorothy Wordsworth and other literary women of the age. Sadly, Mary's diseasecontinued to plague her, taking as much as three months from every year. Her writing career ended in 1815, but Mary outlived her brother by more than a decade. A welcome reevaluation of an underappreciated author. Agent: Emma Parry/Fletcher & Parry
