"Inspired by Shakespeare’s son Hamnet, this imagined story, earthy, otherworldly and emotional, is simply and beautifully glorious."
Glorious, simply and beautifully glorious! Inspired by Shakespeare’s son Hamnet, this is the imagined story behind the writing of Hamlet, which was written between 1599 and 1601. Hamnet and Hamlet were apparently “entirely interchangeable in Stratford records in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries”.
Maggie O’Farrell says she wanted to write this story for over thirty years. “What did it mean for a father to name a tragic hero after his ( ) son. What was this unusual act telling us?” The cover design is beautiful, it called to me. On opening, I slipped into and fell in love with this tale.
Hamnet has an almost otherworldly feel, and yet is as earthy and believable as can be. Two time frames sit side by side, Hamnet becoming ill in 1596, and then the earlier story of Shakespeare and Agnes meeting and falling in love. The descriptions became clear bright images in my mind. I could feel the words, they echoed deep inside me, creating pools of emotion.
I cried on finishing, all the feelings that Hamnet created slipped out of me and trickled down my cheeks. I adore Hamnet, it now sits on my list of favourite books, and will be one that I reread each year. Chosen as a Book of the Month, LoveReading Star Book, and Liz Pick of the Month.
'She’s like no one I’ve ever met... She’s like fire and water all at once.' Warwickshire, 1582. Agnes Hathaway, a natural healer, meets the Latin tutor, William Shakespeare.
| Primary Genre | Historical Fiction |
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'She’s like no one I’ve ever met... She’s like fire and water all at once.' Warwickshire, 1582.
Hamnet features in the following genres: Historical Fiction, Books of the Month, Family Drama, General Fiction, Liz Robinson's Picks of the Month, Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Star Books, Fiction, Recommendations
Paperback, Hardback, Ebook. Not Available.
Hamnet was written by Maggie O'Farrell and published by Methuen Drama an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Hamnet has 104 pages
Yes it is part of Modern Plays series
