Review: Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
As if I don’t mention it enough, I love Shakespeare. It was a love I found in college when I had a brilliant professor, Derek Campbell, who was Irish and adorable and perfect. He believed in me and my talent immensely and we formed a very special bond over the Bard.
So when I read about Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet, I knew I had to read it. I ordered my copy from Blackwell’s Books in Oxford (free shipping to the USA!) because I knew I wanted the U.K. edition. The American cover didn’t speak to me but woweewow did the British. It’s of the most beautiful books I own.
Synopsis: “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.” from the publisher
What I Liked:
The Shakespeares of Stratford—We don’t know much about Shakespeare’s children and what it meant for them to stay behind while he lived and worked in London, so I loved getting to spend time in the beautiful village and get to know them. When I loved in the U.K. we spent a week in Stratford performing in the gardens at Hall’s Croft, which was where Susanna Shakespeare eventually raised her own family, so I could really visualize the setting.
The Unique Storytelling—This is a book about a boy, but it is about so much more. Like the synopsis says, it’s about the small events and choices that make up our lives.
The Characters and Research—You can tell O’Farrell put a lot of time and research into creating these characters. There is an air of mystery surrounding them, as Shakespeare himself is never named, but at the same time, a distinct familiarity. It’s magic.
What Didn’t Work:
I wish the chapters had been shorter, just from a technical perspective, simply because this was a book that you had to get into a rhythm with. Every time I picked it back up, I needed a moment to adjust to the world, so the long chapter could feel intimidating.
TW/CW: Illness, death of a child, plague, grief
Character Authenticity: 5/5 Steam Rating: N/A Overall Rating: 5/5