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A review by nicolebobby
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
“Do you know that this is the foremost reason I love you… That you see the world as no one else does.”
Be forewarned that this review is essentially a love letter to Maggie O’Farrell. How incredible must your writing be to hook a reader when we already know the ending? The boys dies, you know this going in, and yet, you are an enraptured visitor, passing through history, through lives and deaths and everything in between.
The distinct characters, as real as flesh and bone, and ease of which we switch point of view, sometimes from chapter to chapter other times from paragraph to paragraph, are literary feats that few authors really master. However, it’s the beautifully raw descriptions of grief, varying from person to person, that is the real celebration of this novel. It broke my heart but I would gladly have it broken again by Maggie O’Farrell.
Be forewarned that this review is essentially a love letter to Maggie O’Farrell. How incredible must your writing be to hook a reader when we already know the ending? The boys dies, you know this going in, and yet, you are an enraptured visitor, passing through history, through lives and deaths and everything in between.
The distinct characters, as real as flesh and bone, and ease of which we switch point of view, sometimes from chapter to chapter other times from paragraph to paragraph, are literary feats that few authors really master. However, it’s the beautifully raw descriptions of grief, varying from person to person, that is the real celebration of this novel. It broke my heart but I would gladly have it broken again by Maggie O’Farrell.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death