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Mad Mary Lamb: Lunacy and Murder in Literary London
Mad Mary Lamb Lunacy and Murder in Literary London Author:Susan Tyler Hitchcock After the style of The Professor and the Madman, a dramatic story set against a backdrop of literary history. Mary Lamba dutiful daughter, well liked by just about everyonekilled 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... more » 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 tapestry of insights into creativity and madness, the changing lives of women, and the redemptive power of the written word. 32 illustrations.« less