The Reading Room: Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

In what is a profound piece of work, and the winner of the 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction, the Irish author expertly explores the lives of the Shakespearean playwright’s family and the death of his only son. This is her first historical novel. We know so little about Hamnet, namely that he was buried at 11-years-old in 1596. His death was four years before the dramatist wrote Hamlet – and O’Farrell uses this linking to give new life to the family members that were all but forgotten in the pages of history.

THE BOOK:

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

PUBLICATION:

March 2020

WHY IT SHOULD BE READ:

Well, aside from the intriguing subject matter, it’s a Maggie O’Farrell novel – every release generates interest and critical acclaim and Hamnet is no exception.

It is no easy task to take on a subject about which hardly a word has been recorded, but in her foreword, O’Farrell explains that ever since she first heard Shakespeare’s only son mentioned at school more than three decades ago, she has wanted to write about him. We do know the crux of his story; that Shakespeare and his wife, Anne Hathaway – known throughout as Agnes – lost a son named Hamnet to the bubonic plague. And then there are the few tantalising references we have in Shakespeare’s plays: the laments of grieving fathers, the recurrence of twins and, of course, the famous tragedy which (almost) bears Hamnet’s name. Using all this, O’Farrell crafts an extraordinary story about grief and love.

When we meet the young boy in Stratford-upon-Avon, he is frantic, searching for help because his twin, Judith, is ill with “lumps forming under her skin”. His father is never mentioned by name – the husband, the father – but is away working so it falls to Agnes and Hamnet to deal with the threat of the Plague. The novel goes between the early years of the courtship between the parents, young love and passion all set against the present and incoming tragedy – time running out for the young twins as sickness begins to take hold. Lyrical, moving and immersive.

Jennifer McShane, September 2020.