Hamnet

I’m really not sure what to think about this book. I was an English major with a concentration in British literature, and taught Hamlet to high school seniors. It’s a well written story about life in Elizabethan England, a mother grieving over the loss of her child and the impact that has on her family. I don’t find the connection to William Shakespeare and his play Hamlet believable. There’s very little character development regarding Hamnet. William Shakespeare is a minor character. He disappears for most of Hamnet’s life, therefore I didn’t get a sense of his connection to his son and his family. I would’ve enjoyed this book more if it was called Agnes and it was the story of a woman living in Elizabethan England and raising children while her husband was absent.

What’s it about?

Maggie O’Farrell has taken a thin outline from the life of William Shakespeare and filled it in with her version of the story. And what an interesting version it is! Apparently, William Shakespeare and his wife had three children. Their only son, Hamnet, dies at the age of 11. Maggie O’Farrell fills in the story from there.

What did it make me think about?

Love, marriage, and grief in the time of Shakespeare.

Should I read it?

Oh, I so enjoyed this story! There is nothing like being taken away and transported to another time and place. This book takes you back to England in the 1500’s- to a world of Black Plague and superstition. Once I started this novel I kept wanting to return to Stratford to find out what was going on with these interesting characters. Any fan of historical fiction will appreciate this story. What took me so long to read it?

Quote-

“What is the word, Judith asks her mother, for someone who was a twin but is no longer a twin?

Her Mother, dipping a folded, doubled wick into heated tallow pauses, but doesn’t turn around.

If you were a wife, Judith continues, and your husband dies, then you are a widow. And if its parents die, a child becomes an orphan. But what is the word for what I am?”

I was hesitant to pick up this library book club read after reading By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult last year. Despite the title, Hamnet is really Agnes’ story- less about him and more about her. A dual storyline, one that traces her life with Shakespeare, from their meeting through their marriage and children. The other is told through Hamnet’s eyes as his sister grows ill. Once he dies, the last third of the book comes as scattered moments of Agnes and Judith’s grief. Still, the novel is beautifully written, even if its format feels uneven. Book #72 in 2025

I cannot begin to express how deeply this book has touched my heart. “Hamnet” will speak so clearly to anyone who has had to live on after the death of a beloved one. For me, it brought to life the unending longing and love that motherhood delivers and did so through the example of an historical family I have always held dear - The Shakepeares of Stratford. This book brought me such joy, such sorrow, such wonder. I cannot stop crying.

Luscious language. Would love to see her continuing