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georginathelibrarian's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
To hear her talk about a child that I hadn’t even known existed, despite studying Agnes’s husband at university, a child who may have died of a deadly epidemic, during that time of my own life secluded from our own deadly sickness captured my attention.
I immediately ordered a signed copy, and then it sat on the shelf as they often do, biding their time until the moment is right.
Finally the time had come to read it, prompted by my book club, and I am so glad I have. It was chosen for April as that is the month of Agnes’ husband’s birth and death, but the story is not just about that famous playwright, it is more about his family, and their grief at the loss of one of their own.
This story captured my attention anew, transporting me to Elizabethan Stratford, and had me riveted from start to finish, a feat that many books have failed to deliver of late.
I warn you, you will need tissues, this is not a happy story, but it is one that leaves a feeling of wholeness at the end, that all is as it should be.
In the words of Agnes’s husband “give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak knits up the o’er wrought heart and bids it break”.
Graphic: Grief and Pregnancy
Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, Death, and Miscarriage
Minor: Sexual content, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, and Pandemic/Epidemic
emerentina's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Death, Child death, Child abuse, and Antisemitism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Violence, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Infidelity
wrenny03's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Grief, Child death, Death, Terminal illness, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Sexual content
august_ambrosia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
but i will end this long, rambly review by just saying. ohhh hamnet. dearest hamnet. it shall not be. he wills it so. its a story about a boy who, full with love and life, does the impossible. and meets the inevitable.
Graphic: Child death, Grief, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Child abuse and Infidelity
Minor: Sexual content
theliterarylayla's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Child death, and Child abuse
Minor: Sexual content and Sexism
abfreda184's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Child death, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Bullying
laguerrelewis's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Medical content, Animal death, Terminal illness, Child death, Grief, Excrement, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Sexual content
iris3271's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual content, Death, Child death, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Death of parent, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, and Physical abuse
Minor: Body horror
jsingh's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Terminal illness
Moderate: Violence and Sexual content
_maia3_'s review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
On one hand, despite what many have said, I actually enjoyed the flowery prose (even if the plot did move slowly from time to time), and the drama of the novel is well-developed. It's definitely a vibes-over-plot book, but I don't tend to mind that, and enjoyed the small historical details the novel had to offer. The flashbacks in the first half are well-executed and tension is kept measured throughout. O'Farrell writes poignantly on love and grief, especially the effects it has on different people.
On the other, I was and still am very conflicted about the fictionalisation of real people, especially when they are as 1) iconic and 2) scant with historical evidence as Anna Hathaway, her children, and William Shakespeare. The ending was the worst offender I feel, as even though the story wrapped up satisfyingly, it felt lukewarm given the knowledge that most of us have going into the novel - this is Shakespeare. Named or not, this novel exists as a comment on his legacy somehow, and I don't know how to marry it with my enjoyment of the novel.
That is to say however that I did, in fact, enjoy the novel - a lot of these are personal gripes that will probably not impact others. This is a good piece of historical fiction that I would happily recommend, but not for those who are looking for anything concrete or definitive on the Shakespeares, as, as O'Farrell herself puts it, the novel is a product of her own "idle speculation".
Graphic: Child death, Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Grief
Moderate: Child abuse and Misogyny
Minor: Infidelity, Sexual content, and Animal death