Mary Lamb, born on December 2, 1764, was closely connected to her younger brother Charles. Raised in the servant class of Georgian England, she received limited education, learning basic skills at a day school in London. Mary worked long hours as a seamstress and cared for her ill parents until a breakdown in 1796 led to the tragic death of her mother. Likely bipolar, Mary spent months each year in a mental institution but lived a relatively normal life with Charles, socializing with such literary figures as William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Mary and Charles coauthored Tales from Shakespeare (1807), the first English retelling of Shakespeare’s plays for children. Mary’s substantial but unrecognized contribution focused on making Shakespeare accessible especially to girls, emphasizing romantic elements by omitting complex subplots and bawdy content. Other notable works, still coauthored with Charles, include Mrs Leicester’s School (1808) and Poetry for Children (1809), highlighting themes of sibling relationships and education for girls. Despite recurring bouts of insanity, Mary continued writing occasional poems and letters until her death in 1847. Hers was an extraordinary life, in which eccentricity and chaos coexisted with a degree of normality, and an undisputed talent for writing for children.