Hamnet

3.5/5

(Hate how even four hundred years ago, a baddie is brought down by a man who isn’t shit)

the second half is stronger than the first half. The prose is beautiful and there are some parts the genuinely take my breath away. I think the issue is, for me, that the author doesn’t leave a lot implied. She shows too much, instead of tells, if that makes sense.

Upon reading this book, I tried to pinpoint my restlessness with the writing and the story and realised that the title should not have been Hamnet, but Agnes. O'Farrell writes of Shakespeare's wife, Agnes (listed in a will by that name, colloquially called Anne) and her life from child to adult to wife and mother. When she loses her son, Hamnet, it is her undoing. O'Farrell feels her way around grief; the absence of her child and a part of herself. The writing is meandering, thoroughly touching all parts of a tragedy that affects them all, but centred on the mother. The unfolding of this story is slow and sometimes feels stagnant. I was definitely expecting a different story and was left feeling a little disappointed.

This book is OK. Old timey writing style that takes me back to English class. Some interesting characters (Agnus was my fav of course). Finished this one but felt like a drag for most of it. More hardcore literature lovers love this book - not for me.

Content warning for abuse, violence, death, medical situations, and related topics. I liked this novel, but after reading The Marriage Portrait earlier this year, I had high expectations that fell just a little short. I liked the mythical quality of Agnes, and I thought she was an incredible character. I loved the flea section, how the plague travelled across the world. This novel is not about William Shakespeare. In fact, he's never mentioned by name and depicted in the best light. It's a novel about the family he leaves behind. Some of the novel felt really wordy and I was waiting for something to happen. But I can recognize that's just my preference for plot drive stories. Overall an enjoyable read!

There is a theory that the plays of William Shakespeare are about different emotions (Parris 2011). According to this theory, Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet is about grief. Maggie O’Farrell’s novel Hamnet: A Novel of the Plague which was published in 2020 is also about grief. Hamnet and Hamlet were used interchangeably in the records of the town of Stratford-upon-Avon. The central character of the novel is Anne Hathaway. O’Farrell uses the spelling Anges which the writer Bill Bryson writes that Anges may have been used interchangeably with the name Ann in England in the 16th Century (Bryson 41). In this novel, Anges Hathaway is a “wise woman” of the 16th Century like the woman in Monica Furlong’s novel The Wise Child. Hathaway runs a small folk medicine practice, that uses some of the plants that appear in the Shakespearean plays. Shakespeare in his plays mentions 180 plants (Bryson 107). O’Farrell writes in the “Author’s Note” of Hamnet “It is not known why Hamnet Shakespeare died: his burial is listed but not the cause of his death.” A play beside Hamlet that some people believe references the death of Hamnet is King John which has a reference to the grief of a parent over the loss of a child (Bryson 118-119 & Parris 2011). Maggie O’Farrell’s novel, Hamnet is a well-written and thoughtful novel about grief. Works Cited: Bill, Bryson. 2016. Shakespeare: The World as a Stage. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. Kindle. Furlong, Monica. 1989. Wise Child. New York: Alfred A. Kopf. Parris, Matthew. “William Shakespeare.” British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Great Lives. August 30, 2011. Podcast, website, 27:45 minutes. Great Lives - William Shakespeare - BBC Sounds