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The Lambs of London
From the author of Chatterton and Shakespeare: A Biography comes a gripping novel set in London that re-imagines an infamous 19th-century Shakespeare forgery. Charles and Mary Lamb, who will in time achieve lasting fame as the authors of Tales from Shakespeare for Children, are still living at home, caring for their dotty and maddening parents. Reading Shakespeare is the ...more
Paperback, 224 pages
Published
July 10th 2007
by Anchor
(first published 2003)
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Shovelmonkey1
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
people who want Shakespeare made more interesting
Recommended to Shovelmonkey1 by:
1001 books list
A short sharp burst of creamy historical fiction goodness from Peter Ackroyd; a man who is basically a big walking encyclopaedia of London in "days of yore". I've read both Hawksmoor, The Fall of Troy and The House of Dr Dee and although I wasn't that enamoured of Dr Dee, Hawksmoor gets a big thumbs up and 10/10 for effort, research, and all round weirdness against the magnificent backdrop of St Pauls, both past and present.
The Lambs of London deals with Charles and Mary L...more
The Lambs of London deals with Charles and Mary L...more
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Although the main characters in this novel are people who really existed (Charles Lamb and his sister Mary), Ackroyd makes it clear that this is not intended to be a biography (anyone interested in knowing more about the Lambs should read Kathy Watson's non-fiction book about Mary Lamb, 'The Devil Kissed Her').[return][return]Charles and Mary live with their senile father and repressive mother. Charles, who can at least escape to go to work and of course is free to go where he wants (as a 'respe...more
Lorna
added it
Peter Ackroyd can, of course, do no wrong. That is a given. This is a shorter, easier read than many of his novels, though once again the setting is historic London. This time Ackroyd takes Charles and Mary Lamb, famous for their Tales from Shakespeare, and places them at the heart of the story of William Ireland and his audacious forgeries of 'Shakespearean' material at the end of the eighteenth century.
Mary Lamb is suffocating at home with her demented father, fussing mother and brother C...more
Mary Lamb is suffocating at home with her demented father, fussing mother and brother C...more
I enjoyed this book well enough, but really wish that it was more about The Lambs of London than it was. I find Charles and Mary Lamb both fascinating individually, and also together. Siblings, they wrote Tales from Shakespeare- a book that has been in print continually since 1807- an astonishing feat in and of itself. But their private lives are even more intriguing. Mary suffered from a mental illness and killed their mother. Charles continued to protect and look after, and live with his siste...more
A rather strange little book for a number of reasons. In the first place, the eponymous characters, the brother-and-sister authors Charles and Mary Lamb (1775-1834 and 1764-1847 respectively) were not the main characters of this story. That honour belonged to one William Henry Ireland (1775-1835), famous as a forger of Shakespearean articles, including a complete play, Vortigern and Rowena, which was actually produced. The majority of the book tells the tale of Ireland’s attempts to foist his ha...more
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Peter Ackroyd, author of London: The Biography and other historical novels, imbues his newest work, based on real people in 19th-century London, with Elizabethan flair. Filled with colorful characters, suspense, ambiguity, and wit, this tragicomedy offers a rich appreciation of literature and history. The only debate centered on the novel's historical accuracy. The Los Angeles Times faulted Ackroyd for presenting inaccuracies that contradict known history, despite the author's admitted fictiona
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I was looking for something to read, so I walked to the A's in fiction, and came across this book. I did not realize until the end that it was based on real persons, Charles and Mary Lamb, actually. Perhaps if I were more familiar with the Lambs and Shakespeare's works, I might have enjoyed it more...
Although I read this short read pretty effortlessly, I never became invested in any of the characters. In the end, I felt the book only hinted at the anguish and aspirations of some o...more
Although I read this short read pretty effortlessly, I never became invested in any of the characters. In the end, I felt the book only hinted at the anguish and aspirations of some o...more
No stars. Of all the bad recent books on Mary lamb, and her inseparable brother, Charles, this was easily the most disappointing. Ackroyd has become the premier literary hack of his generation; churning out books, fiction and not, of such embarrassing insufficiency, both as narrative and history, as to reduce all other profligates to pikers. Ackroyd's formula is now basically a first person Wiki -- with less fact checking. This hurried little number recycles every ugly psychological supposit...more
Mary and Charles Lamb, brother and sister (and existing authors of Tales from Shakespeare) are the main characters of this novel. And passion for Shakespeare's work and poetry is the theme. The meeting with William Ireland, a young librarian longing for his father's recognition is a turning point for everyone. Mary will have more and more difficulties to deal and care for her parents (a father completely senile and a mother quite harsh) and William will be revealed for who he is. Mary's fragile...more
I picked this book up (one of the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die) after reading a 30 page sample downloaded to my Kindle. I chose it out of about 15 other samples I had downloaded at the time because the characters of Mary and Charles Lamb in this novel intrigued me. (I checked my copy out of the library because at 213 pages it's a fairly short read.)
I'm torn between giving this three or four stars. Ackroyd has a wonderful feel for historic London, and the writing and pace of the ...more
I'm torn between giving this three or four stars. Ackroyd has a wonderful feel for historic London, and the writing and pace of the ...more
The Lambs of London, despite the title, is mostly about Ireland his foregery of Shakespeare's plays. It is not a boring book, but there is something lacking in it. At times the writer feels one step removed from some of the characters, in particular Mary Lamb who disappers for a section of the novel. The real focus of the novel is William Ireland and his relationship with his father. Ackroyd does an excellent job there showing how the family works. The title, however, is extremely misleading...more
An extraordinary novel on all accounts. Peter Ackroyd dipped his pen in an enchanting Elizabethan-style prose with one precious sentence after the other. The characters are superbly drafted with a beautiful mix of history and fiction. Mary Lamb's insanity is frighteningly palpable and William is a terrific and complex character whose scam is only slowly divulged. The fact that the storyline revolves around Shakespeare and that the city of London comes alive to such an extent that one can actuall...more
This is a recent (2006) novel by Peter Ackroyd. It is a historical fiction set in Industrial Age England.
All in all, I can't say I got a whole lot from reading this book. But, that is not to say there is nothing there. I suspect this is the type of book that would make for excellent discussion in a book club or just between friends.
From what I can understand, this is an existential book. It is essentially about living, but it is not going to give the reader any advice as ...more
All in all, I can't say I got a whole lot from reading this book. But, that is not to say there is nothing there. I suspect this is the type of book that would make for excellent discussion in a book club or just between friends.
From what I can understand, this is an existential book. It is essentially about living, but it is not going to give the reader any advice as ...more
This is basically a suspense novel for readers who already know the ending and who are probably inclined to dislike the main characters from the outset, which must be a tricky undertaking. First, Ackroyd had to create a convincing setting for Mary Lamb's infamous matricide. Regarding that, I felt like her mother's character was so annoying I might also have skewered her with a utensil (but there were also some subtler components that helped make that scenario work). I also thought he created a c...more
First of all, it was a nice read, very smooth and engaging. I like Ackroyd's writing, as he's got such a deep knowledge of history and can get the atmosphere of past times across remarkably well. It's like being in people's backyard :).
That said, the storyline was a little bumpy at times and the ending seemed rushed. Also, I felt that the characterization was such that the reader cannot identify with anyone, because they are so remote and untouchable.
I enjoyed the look into ...more
That said, the storyline was a little bumpy at times and the ending seemed rushed. Also, I felt that the characterization was such that the reader cannot identify with anyone, because they are so remote and untouchable.
I enjoyed the look into ...more
This book had its moments, but they were too few and far between to hold my interest. The characters are intriguing, but not fully developed... what the author intends as mystery is really just a lack of intricacy. The interwoven stories of love between siblings, parents and children, and a new potential love have the potential to produce so great questions of what love is and can be, but you see almost from the beginning that this is not going to go anywhere. There's also supposed to be a myste...more
The usual brilliant historical setting from Peter Ackroyd in which the London of the Lambs vividly comes to life.
The plot is an interesting one and keeps the reader guessing to the end. However, one must beware because, as the author points out in a brief foreword note, this is purely a work of fiction with the lives of the Lamb family changed completely.
This has to be kept in mind, and it is sometimes difficult to do with these real personalities brought to life so wel...more
The plot is an interesting one and keeps the reader guessing to the end. However, one must beware because, as the author points out in a brief foreword note, this is purely a work of fiction with the lives of the Lamb family changed completely.
This has to be kept in mind, and it is sometimes difficult to do with these real personalities brought to life so wel...more
This historical novel gives a fictionalized account of the "discovery" of unknown Shakespeare papers, including his lost play Vortigern, in the 1790s, by William Henry Ireland, son of a rare book dealer, as well as his acquaintance/friendship with Mary and Charles Lamb, who would later go on to publish Tales from Shakespeare for Children. In real life Ireland did not know the Lambs but it makes sense to put them together because of the shared love/obsession with the Bard. The narrative...more
I read this book because the Lambs were mentioned in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society and I was intriged enough to want to find out more about them. The story is at times humorous, fascinating, and sad, and definately quite bizarre. It is faultlessly written in the literary style of the time, which is an amazing accomplishment in itself, and accurately captures life in nineteenth century London. The author blends real-life events and characters with fictional inventions, to tell th...more
Got to p68 and nearly threw up at the completely out-of-the-blue, unnecessary description of the sexual molestation of an abandoned child. WT??? I'm sick of books that take the terrible, shame-to-all-humanity Catholic Priests' sex scandal and make it into ALL clergy for ALL of history have to molest children. Disgusting, wanton act by an irresponsible author wanting to be very pseduo-PC. RUINED an otherwise fun book. This sort of thing belongs ONLY in memoirs of those who suffered it.
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Martha
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Recommended to Martha by:
Peter Boxall and His Giant List of Books
Shelves:
boxall-s-1001-books-to-read-before
A relatively quick read that is interesting, but not extraordinary. I had a hard time understanding why the fictitious relationship between William Ireland and the Lambs was necessary to the narrative. I'm not objecting on the grounds that it was a fictitious relationship; rather, I felt like the pairing was rather random. Ackroyd could have cast Buzz Lightyear in Charles Lamb's role and I would have bought it...if he could have also convinced me that it was a necessary addition to the plot.
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Probably a 3.3. Very entertaining and very easy to read but oddly unsatisfying. I wasn't perturbed by the fictional elements of the novel, in particular the blending of the Lambs' story with Wiliam Ireland, the man who was responsible for forgery of various Shakespearean papers and even a full play. The main body of the story was, in my view, the most successful. i had trouble with the number of offshoot stories, some lasting only a few paragraphs, like that of Joseph, the black servant boy and...more
http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/3917...
This didn't work for me, either as a novel or a fictionalized account of real events, and I'm not sure which one it was. Okay, I just leafed through and found it is meant to be a work of fiction (but with real life characters). I had a number of problems. The first was that I never really figured out when it took place. I know I should know when Charles Lamb lived and I could sort it out but I would have like a few clues, here and there, in th...more
This didn't work for me, either as a novel or a fictionalized account of real events, and I'm not sure which one it was. Okay, I just leafed through and found it is meant to be a work of fiction (but with real life characters). I had a number of problems. The first was that I never really figured out when it took place. I know I should know when Charles Lamb lived and I could sort it out but I would have like a few clues, here and there, in th...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
When I was in elementary school, I bought a book called Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb. It was a book for children that included prose versions of Shakespeare's plays. I loved that book and it was how I first became familiar with Shakespeare's stories, long before I was old enough to understand and appreciate the actual plays. The Lambs of London is a fictional account of the lives of Charles and Mary Lamb and their preoccupation with all things Shakespeare. The Lambs lived at t...more
Charles Lamb buys a book from the bookseller William Ireland - a book that had belonged to Shakespeare - so it is claimed. Charles´s sister Mary, bound up in the father´s illness and the mother´s demands, seems to fall for the new found driend William - her relationship to Charles, who is the most important person in her life is the main theme of the book. William´s "discoveries" of Shakespeare materials drives the story.
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Peter Ackroyd CBE is an English novelist and biographer with a particular interest in the history and culture of London.
Peter Ackroyd's mother worked in the personnel department of an engineering firm, his father having left the family home when Ackroyd was a baby. He was reading newspapers by the age of 5 and, at 9, wrote a play about Guy Fawkes. Reputedly, he first realized he was ga...more
More about Peter Ackroyd...
Peter Ackroyd's mother worked in the personnel department of an engineering firm, his father having left the family home when Ackroyd was a baby. He was reading newspapers by the age of 5 and, at 9, wrote a play about Guy Fawkes. Reputedly, he first realized he was ga...more
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