Description
‘Miraculous’ Observer
‘A masterpiece. Historical fiction at its finest’ Stacey Halls
TWO EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE.
A LOVE THAT DRAWS THEM TOGETHER.
A LOSS THAT THREATENS TO TEAR THEM APART.
On a summer’s day in 1596, a young girl in Stratford-upon-Avon takes to her bed with a fever. Her twin brother, Hamnet, searches everywhere for help.
Why is nobody at home? Their mother, Agnes, is over a mile away, in the garden where she grows medicinal herbs. Their father is working in London. Neither parent knows that one of the children will not survive the week.
Hamnet is a novel inspired by the son of a famous playwright. It is a story of the bond between twins, and of a marriage pushed to the brink by grief. It is also the story of a kestrel and its mistress; flea that boards a ship in Alexandria; and a glovemaker’s son who flouts convention in pursuit of the woman he loves.
Above all, it is a tender and unforgettable reimagining of a boy whose life has been all but forgotten, but whose name was given to one of the most celebrated plays ever written.
Emily Thompson-Nicholls –
I received Hamnet as part of my monthly subscription from Berts Books and was really glad to have it. It was one of those books that’s been on my periphery for a while now, something I always said I wanted to read but never quite got to. I’m certainly glad that it arriving, chosen for me by someone else, forced my hand because what a book it is.
Maggie O’Farrell has such a way with words. It’s descriptive and powerful and drew me right in. It may be a bit too purple for some, but the style is one I truly enjoy. I genuinely turned my attention back to the book every chance I had, and with a small baby those moments are precious. It’s been a long time since a book has sucked me in in such a way.
Hamnet sheds a light on elements of Shakespeares life that I have never thought of. Of course, it is a work of fiction but one that has sparked my interest and left me frantically googling to know more. I particularly enjoyed the focus being on his wife, Agnes (often known as Anne), and the way William himself was very much a secondary character. I’m not sure the addition of Agnes’ “powers” was necessary, but I don’t feel it took away from the story at all.
I would definitely read this again.