Hamnet

By Maggie O'Farrell

Book Overview

NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER - NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - The bestselling author of The Marriage Portrait delivers a luminous portrait of a marriage, a family ravaged by grief, and a boy whose name was given to one of the most celebrated plays of all time. - "Of all the stories that argue and speculate about Shakespeare's life ... here is a novel ... so gorgeously written that it transports you." --The Boston Globe

Soon to be a major motion picture directed by Chlo Zhao and starring Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Emily Watson, and Joe Alwyn.

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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1984898876
• ISBN13: 9781984898876
• Release Date: May 2021
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Oh those Shakespeare people

And I am not one of them. Shakespeare became a cult many generations ago. And that's fine. What I did not like is the staccato pace and rhythm. Just not my cup of tea. The characters are little more than props. Who should read this book? Everyone.

shakespear's family

This novel looks at Shakespear's family life from an abusive parent, to an early marriage, to the death of his only son. The novel alternates from the present illness to the past that relates to what is currently happening. Surprisingly, the author never once mentions William Shakespear's name.

May well be the most beautiful I've ever read.

Gorgeous story and beautiful writing.