Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

 

Summary (from the publisher): Drawing on Maggie O'Farrell's long-term fascination with the little-known story behind Shakespeare's most enigmatic play, Hamnet is a luminous portrait of a marriage, at its heart the loss of a beloved child.

Warwickshire in the 1580s. Agnes is a woman as feared as she is sought after for her unusual gifts. She settles with her husband in Henley street, Stratford, and has three children: a daughter, Susanna and then twins, Hamnet and Judith. The boy, Hamnet, dies in 1596, aged 11. Four years or so later, the husband writes a play called Hamlet.

Award-winning author Maggie O'Farrell's new novel breathes full-blooded life into the story of a loss usually consigned to literary footnotes and provides an unforgettable vindication of Agnes, a woman intriguingly absent from history.

Review: Set in the 1590s in Stratford, England, this novel follows the story of Agnes, her husband, and their children: Susanna and twins Hamnet and Judith. Their son, Hamnet, dies in 1596, aged 11. Later, Agnes' husband writes a play in honor of his son called Hamlet. This novel is a subtle imagining of the life of William Shakespeare's family, but one that focuses on his wife and the unspeakable loss of their son. 

Beautiful and haunting, this novel gives voice to characters largely forgotten by history: the family behind the great playwright. Agnes is the central figure in this novel and O'Farrell imagines her as mystical and otherworldly and concerned odd by those around her. The crushing weight of burying their child is fully felt in this novel and O'Farrell uses this loss to imagine the inspiration behind the play later written that carries his name. 

I loved the author's choice to avoid even the use of the name Shakespeare anywhere in the text. At heart, this novel isn't about Shakespeare, it is about his family, so it is only right that the novel bears instead the name of his son. In this novel, he isn't yet the famous playwright but merely Agnes' husband. The daily life of Agnes and her children, separated from her husband living in London, is richly imagined by O'Farrell. Despite the paucity of historical details about their actual lives, the author has filled in the gaps in a very believable and compelling narrative. 

At times, it did feel like the novel dragged a bit. From the outsight, the reader knows Hamnet will die but there is significant build up and plodding to get to that point. I did think the dual narratives of the 1590s when Hamnet becomes sick, interlaced with Agnes' story and how they ultimately arrived at this life, worked well to build up to his death and provide context and history to the characters. However, the storyline of Agnes' childhood and history had significantly more movement than the other storyline that significantly drags out the sickness and death. 

Stars: 4

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