Hamnet
By Maggie O'Farrell
- Release Date: 2020-07-21
- Genre: Literary Fiction
Description
NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Now a major motion picture starring Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Emily Watson, and Joe Alwyn, directed by ACADEMY AWARD® winner Chloé Zhao.
The bestselling author of The Marriage Portrait delivers a deeply moving novel about the death of Shakespeare’s eleven-year-old son, Hamnet, and the years leading up to the production of his great play.
"Miraculous... brilliant... A novel told with the urgency of a whispered prayer — or curse... A richly drawn and intimate portrait of 16th-century English life set against the arrival of one devastating death." —Ron Charles, The Washington Post
England, 1580: The Black Death creeps across the land, an ever-present threat, infecting the healthy, the sick, the old and the young alike. The end of days is near, but life always goes on.
A young Latin tutor—penniless and bullied by a violent father—falls in love with an extraordinary, eccentric young woman. Agnes is a wild creature who walks her family’s land with a falcon on her glove and is known throughout the countryside for her unusual gifts as a healer, understanding plants and potions better than she does people. Once she settles with her husband on Henley Street in Stratford-upon-Avon, she becomes a fiercely protective mother and a steadfast, centrifugal force in the life of her young husband, whose career on the London stage is just taking off when his beloved young son succumbs to sudden fever.
Hamnet is mesmerizing, seductive, impossible to put down—a magnificent leap forward from one of our most gifted novelists.
Reviews
Completely outdone by this novel
5By kaykaybean13I’m at a loss of words bc I’ve just spent an an all nighter reading straight through from the start to finish and im overwhelmed by the emotional hangover this deeply heart wrenching, soul quenching, absolutely delightful experience this has been. I’m besotted with Agnes. She will forever be indelibly marked on my heart and soul.Hamlet
5By BrockmanleyThis was a captivating read, and I loved being in Stratford with the family of Hamnet. Giving flesh to both famous and unfamiliar characters is the brilliance of Maggie O’Farrell. Thank you, Maggie! I loved the back stories of the characters and the family dynamics as each deals with the tragic loss of young Hamnet.Hamnet
5By Pharmawoman2Excellent book, fantastic character development, a story of grief shared by two parents, with an ending you will not anticipate.Incredible book
5By TrooperCamI have long known the story of how Hamnet inspired his father’s work but to see it brought to the page was beautiful. This book reads as a supernatural thriller, you know what’s going to happen because like Shakespeare’s works the tragedy is at the heart of the play but still you wait to see how it all is going to come together. A beautiful book. I very much enjoyed reading it.Somewhere
2By FreethinkerXBeautiful, melodic prose and mind numbing detail drag down the narrative transforming what might have been a riveting, moving historical novel into a tedious tale.Well written
3By CS WalterInteresting show of what real tragedy is and how grief leads people to turn on each other. The historical context is amazing.Interesting concept but sooo boring
2By Ist22214I thought the concept of this book — a story of Shakespeare’s marriage from the perspective of Anne (Agnes) interesting. It’s really Anne’s story and only focuses on their courtship and the birth of their children and the death of Hamnet. But so little happens and there is no suspense because the ending is apparent from the beginning. Just a complete snoozefest.A modern classic
5By MCDMUGExcellent from start to finish.I had to put it down. Then pick it again
5By dosheaI cannot think of any novel that affected me as much as Hamnet. There was a point, which those who have read i will identify, when I had to stop to consider the event, before continuing two days later. Agnes/Anne is drawn so richly that she is the equal to her famous (unnamed) husband. Horatio's “now cracks a noble heart…” although not expressed in the text could have been a eulogy for his beloved son.Good
4By DavidCFarGreat technical execution and writing. Very solid ending. Middle can drag a bit if you don’t love family dramasDisappointing
2By Ellen ViolaSo much wordiness about nothing. After all the build up and endless detail I thought the book would go somewhere. But it didn’t.Hamnet
5By popular cat115Life is about loss. The difference between one who drowns and lives beyond grief is the ability to rise above the waves. Keeping oneself distracted with purposeful work helps the body to move forward. Always hopeful to one day be rejoined with our love ones we lost. This book ,with its beautiful language is a revelation and comfort to all who have lost a loved one . Thank you. Catherine M SchulteJML
5By jomartha8Beautifully written.Sorry it ended.
5By LK 99I’m not a fan of historical fiction, but this was so much more. Highly recommended.Amazing
5By NAF19Amazingly well written but so heartbreakingly sad.Beautiful
5By bat4330Beautiful story, beautiful writing. I couldn’t put it downThis book will make you feel you are back in Shakespearean England
5By RossB-BThe interactions among different characters are very well done. The details about life in the 1500’s showed how many aspects of life were different and harder then, but human interactions have changed but little.Unexpectedly awesome
4By SpayMartI was surprised by how much I loved thisHamnet
5By KlernerfrnkelA beautiful story by a gifted writer. Thank you. Never wanted it to end
