Oh my goodness, what a book! Hamnet is in the top three books I have ever read in my life.
SHORT SYNOPSIS:
Hamnet opens with some historical notes. A couple in Stratford had three children, twins Hamnet and Judith, and daughter Susanna. Hamnet, died in 1596, aged eleven. Roughly four years later, his father writes the play Hamlet (a name that is interchangeable at the time with name Hamnet).
As the story unfolds, the book tells a fictionalized story of William Shakespeare and his wife Agnes and the death of their son Hamnet.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Maggie O’Farrell is the author of the Sunday Times no. 1 bestselling memoir I AM, I AM, I AM, and eight novels: AFTER YOU’D GONE, MY LOVER’S LOVER, THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US, which won a Somerset Maugham Award, THE VANISHING ACT OF ESME LENNOX, THE HAND THAT FIRST HELD MINE, which won the 2010 Costa Novel Award, INSTRUCTIONS FOR A HEATWAVE, which was shortlisted for the 2013 Costa Novel Award, THIS MUST BE THE PLACE, which was shortlisted for the 2016 Costa Novel Award, and HAMNET.
She lives in Edinburgh.
MY REVIEW:
As shocking as it is, I studied English Literature and was never aware of this story. Although I studied Hamlet for weeks, I now, for the first time, see this tragedy in a completely different light. The book is written so brilliantly by O'Farrell, it instantly grips you. I really enjoyed how she intertwined the future with character's pasts - the whole story coming together so effortlessly. I will not tell you to read this book if you love Shakespeare and all things historical, but will urge you to read it because, almost like Shakespeare himself, O'Farrell and her work are essential and so special to our generation.
Read it or avoid it?
Definitely read this one! No 1 book of 2020 in my opinion.
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