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jenny_king 's review for:
Hamnet
by Maggie O'Farrell
***WOMEN'S PRIZE WINNER 2020***
This book was spectacular- and I am so thrilled about that given that I have only given the last couple of Maggie OFarrell books 3⭐️. This have been on my to read list for so long at this point that I honestly don’t know why it took me so long. I love the women’s prize and so the fact that I have read the majority of the 2020 long list but not the actual winner was a bit shocking!
I loved the structure of this book, and I loved that the focus was on Agnes who is such a complex and compelling character. Generally I thought that the characters, both good and bad, were expertly portrayed. From the stepmother, to the mother and father-in-law, to her husband, they all felt completely real and believable. But without a doubt Agnes was the star of the show, and I think that the depictions of grief and how it affected her was really well done. There was one part of this book where I was actually weeping, and any book that can conjure a physical emotion with me is a work of art.
I also thought that the book was excellent in terms of setting - you can tell that the author did incredible amounts of research not only into the family history, but also into every day life, and particularly into healing and herbs. It was descriptive but not overly so - enough that you could picture it but still focus on the plot.
Overall this has been my favourite Maggie OFarrell to date - I do plan on reading more but they will need to be phenomenal to top this.
This book was spectacular- and I am so thrilled about that given that I have only given the last couple of Maggie OFarrell books 3⭐️. This have been on my to read list for so long at this point that I honestly don’t know why it took me so long. I love the women’s prize and so the fact that I have read the majority of the 2020 long list but not the actual winner was a bit shocking!
I loved the structure of this book, and I loved that the focus was on Agnes who is such a complex and compelling character. Generally I thought that the characters, both good and bad, were expertly portrayed. From the stepmother, to the mother and father-in-law, to her husband, they all felt completely real and believable. But without a doubt Agnes was the star of the show, and I think that the depictions of grief and how it affected her was really well done. There was one part of this book where I was actually weeping, and any book that can conjure a physical emotion with me is a work of art.
I also thought that the book was excellent in terms of setting - you can tell that the author did incredible amounts of research not only into the family history, but also into every day life, and particularly into healing and herbs. It was descriptive but not overly so - enough that you could picture it but still focus on the plot.
Overall this has been my favourite Maggie OFarrell to date - I do plan on reading more but they will need to be phenomenal to top this.