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A review by christinecc
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- 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? Yes
4.0
This would have been three stars because of some stuff I'll get into below, but I shed way too many tears in the second half to withhold the fourth star.
The book's premise is as follows: this is a look at the family of how a young Latin tutor (unnamed) falls in loved with a slightly older young woman named Agnes, their different upbringings, their eventual marriage, their children (an eldest daughter and a set of twins, boy & girl), and how they lose one of the twins to the bubonic plague, followed by a heartrending depiction of grief.
Except said Latin tutor is, as many of you will guess, our own Bard of Avon: William Shakespeare. And the child who dies (this is on the first page, I'm not spoiling anything) is Shakespeare's son named Hamnet.
The writing is ridiculously good, as is the pacing and the decision to alternate between scenes in the "present" (where Bill is off in London being a theatre star and Agnes is raising the kids in Stratford) and the "past" (which shows us the younger years of the couple and their relationships with their parents, mixed in with their unusual courtship).
The family relationships are the real gold here, brought to life by O'Farrell's prose. I love how everyone feels connected and invested in the other characters' well-being. Agnes has a horrible stepmother (Joan) but a decent, heart-warming relationship with her brother and even her half-siblings.
Meanwhile, the Latin Tutor is slowly suffocating in his home, stuck in Startford, always under the weight of his abusive and malignant father, John the glover. We also get to see the tutor's relationship with his brothers and sisters, and his mother's perfectly reasonable if contrary views of his marriage and choice of wife. No one feels like a cartoon. The people are commonplace, the love and sadness appears by the fistful rather than the epic ton, and that's what brings the story to life.
Ok so my main complaint is about Agnes, more commonly known as Anne Hathaway (Mrs. Shakespeare). She gets the "I'm not like Other Medieval Women" treatment, as if she's the only woman in the world to use herbal remedies or... (checks notes) give birth in the woods? Alone? (That wasn't in the herbal manual, what are you doing, Agnes??) (To be fair, the woods episode comes back and makes more sense during her second pregnancy, and it packs more of a punch than it deserves. Quite a punch, in fact.)
Look, all I'm saying is, I'm not a big believer in underestimating the past, and the Victorians really did a number on how we perceive the middle ages. Medieval people were smart, they had some unexpectedly useful remedies, and they did know how to give birth relatively safely... more safely than wandering into the woods alone, at any rate. No need to make Agnes "the fey woman," she's already interesting enough as it is. And lucky for O'Farrell, her prose carries the overused trope to safety.
The second half is devastating. I cried a lot. I can only ask that you steel yourself for the heartbreaking image of a family crumbling under the weight of a child's death. It is not easy. It is, however, masterfully written. And somehow, keeping Shakespeare nameless throughout was the perfect choice. The Bard has never been more human.
Recommended if you enjoy stories about family, grief, and the need to keep living.
The book's premise is as follows: this is a look at the family of how a young Latin tutor (unnamed) falls in loved with a slightly older young woman named Agnes, their different upbringings, their eventual marriage, their children (an eldest daughter and a set of twins, boy & girl), and how they lose one of the twins to the bubonic plague, followed by a heartrending depiction of grief.
Except said Latin tutor is, as many of you will guess, our own Bard of Avon: William Shakespeare. And the child who dies (this is on the first page, I'm not spoiling anything) is Shakespeare's son named Hamnet.
The writing is ridiculously good, as is the pacing and the decision to alternate between scenes in the "present" (where Bill is off in London being a theatre star and Agnes is raising the kids in Stratford) and the "past" (which shows us the younger years of the couple and their relationships with their parents, mixed in with their unusual courtship).
The family relationships are the real gold here, brought to life by O'Farrell's prose. I love how everyone feels connected and invested in the other characters' well-being. Agnes has a horrible stepmother (Joan) but a decent, heart-warming relationship with her brother and even her half-siblings.
Meanwhile, the Latin Tutor is slowly suffocating in his home, stuck in Startford, always under the weight of his abusive and malignant father, John the glover. We also get to see the tutor's relationship with his brothers and sisters, and his mother's perfectly reasonable if contrary views of his marriage and choice of wife. No one feels like a cartoon. The people are commonplace, the love and sadness appears by the fistful rather than the epic ton, and that's what brings the story to life.
Ok so my main complaint is about Agnes, more commonly known as Anne Hathaway (Mrs. Shakespeare). She gets the "I'm not like Other Medieval Women" treatment, as if she's the only woman in the world to use herbal remedies or... (checks notes) give birth in the woods? Alone? (That wasn't in the herbal manual, what are you doing, Agnes??) (To be fair, the woods episode comes back and makes more sense during her second pregnancy, and it packs more of a punch than it deserves. Quite a punch, in fact.)
Look, all I'm saying is, I'm not a big believer in underestimating the past, and the Victorians really did a number on how we perceive the middle ages. Medieval people were smart, they had some unexpectedly useful remedies, and they did know how to give birth relatively safely... more safely than wandering into the woods alone, at any rate. No need to make Agnes "the fey woman," she's already interesting enough as it is. And lucky for O'Farrell, her prose carries the overused trope to safety.
The second half is devastating. I cried a lot. I can only ask that you steel yourself for the heartbreaking image of a family crumbling under the weight of a child's death. It is not easy. It is, however, masterfully written. And somehow, keeping Shakespeare nameless throughout was the perfect choice. The Bard has never been more human.
Recommended if you enjoy stories about family, grief, and the need to keep living.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Child abuse and Domestic abuse