The Devil Kissed Her: the Story of Mary Lamb

by KathyWatson (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2005

  $3.48

  On 22 September 1796 Mary Lamb murdered her mother with a carving knife. However, she was neither imprisoned nor punished, but instead released into the care of her younger brother Charles. They went on to share their home, friends and work for nearly forty years. They wrote the children's classic Tales from Shakespeare together, ran a literary agency, and had a salon frequented by Coleridge, Wordsworth, Hazlitt and Godwin. However, the Lambs' popularity existed in the shadow of Mary's recurring bouts of mania and depression and she was incarcerated in a mental institution for several months of each year. This memorable portrait of one of literature's most romantic figures examines this extraordinary brother-sister relationship and, amidst the many contradictions and chaotic episodes of her life, uncovers the real Mary Lamb.

• Used

  Hardcover
  2004

  $3.48

  At the age of thirty one, Mary Lamb stabbed her mother to death. Amazingly she wasn't imprisoned but was instead released into the care of her younger brother Charles. Brother and sister were inseparable for nearly forty years. They wrote and holidayed together and were famed for their literary salon, frequented by the likes of Coleridge, Wordsworth, Hazlitt and Godwin. But the Lambs' popularity existed in the shadow of Mary's recurring bouts of illness. Centuries before manic depression was to be diagnosed, Mary's collapses took her into an asylum for several months of the year. Kathy Watson's aim has been to find the real Mary Lamb: to reconcile the modest, motherly lady who wrote Tales from Shakespeare with the murderess, the 'lunatic' with the admired hostess. Above all Watson memorably examines a fascinating brother-sister relationship. Superbly researched, beautifully told, The Devil Kissed Her is a vivid and intimate portrait of one of literature's most tragically romantic figures.