Lightly based on the lives of Charles and his sister Mary Lamb (you know the ones: of 'Tales from Shakespeare' fame, this is nevertheless fiction. It's an account of how Mary emerges from her limited life of domesticity upon meeting young antiquarian William Ireland. Ireland has apparently made discoveries of his own: and found among a patron's papers a hitherto unknown play by William Shakespeare no less. What happens next? You'll have to read it to find out. But en route you'll be absorbed into the life of 19th century London, and will puzzle to disentangle fact from fiction. All whilst having a jolly good read. ( )

This was such a weird little book. Although I didn't care much for the story, I had to admire the fantastic writing style. It really captured the voice, vocabulary, and cynical snobbish "humor" of the time. Some of the characters really were fantastic---like Mr. Lamb swigging the peppermint oil...ha!

I might never be able to read my kids, Tales From Shakespeare again, though. This story was a pretty odd bunch of convoluted craziness---and much of it was more about William than the Lambs. I didn't appreciate the two unnecessary sex scenes/discussions...yuck. I also thought the cover design drab.

Wouldn't recommend...but don't really regret reading, either. Good lead in for The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society which I read after this. ( )

Esta es la historia de una familia londinense, los Lamb, poco conocida en España pero cuya importancia en la recuperación y valorización de Shakespeare es indiscutible. Charles Lamb intenta hacerse un sitio en la sociedad literaria del siglo XIX y Mary busca el modo de huir de un a casa en la que convive con unos progenitores al borde de la locura. La pasión que comparten por la obra de Shakespeare es para ambos un perfecto modo de evasión. Sin embargo, cuando un joven y ambicioso librero les asegura haber encontrado diversos manuscritos de Shakespeare e incluso una obra teatral inédita, se sumergen en una estremecedora investigación que les puede llevar a la inmortalidad o al más estrepitoso de los ridículos.

Mostly OK novel about Charles and Mary Lamb and interesting man who enters their life. A lot about Shakespeare too. Couple of unnecessary R-rated bits so it's not recommended for younger readers. ( )

Charles and Mary Lamb are still living at their parents’ home. Charles, an aspiring writer, works as a clerk at the East India Company, and enjoys a drink or three too often at the local pub. Meanwhile his sister, Mary, is trapped in domesticity, caring for her ailing father and her maddening mother assisted only by an aged maid.

The siblings find much-needed escape in reading and quoting William Shakespeare to one another. So, when William Ireland, a 17-year-old antiquarian bookseller and himself an aspiring writer, comes into their lives claiming to possess a “lost” Shakespearean play, the Lambs can barely contain their excitement. As word of this amazing find spreads, all of London is eagerly anticipating star-studded opening night of the play. But is the discovery real or a clever piece of forgery and if so by whom?

Now whilst I rather enjoyed the author's writing style and feel that he must have done his homework, somehow it failed to really grab me. Firstly, this was partly down to my ignorance, it wasn't until after I had finished it that I realised that Charles and Mary Lamb were real people. If I had known this fact earlier, hopefully I would also have known when this novel was set. Instead, I only knew that it was some period after Shakespeare's death. Conversely, once I realised that it featured real people, I was unsure as to whether or not this was meant to be a piece of factual historical writing or simply fiction. Equally I felt that in the end it rather ran out of steam rather than come to some exciting conclusion. Overall, I found this a quick easy read but not a particularly remarkable one. ( )