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A review by unfetteredfiction
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
3.0
“Eliza’s letter to her brother travels in the leather satchel of the grain merchant as far as Banbury. From there, it is taken by cart to Stokenchurch, and it lands at the door of the lodgings. The landlord squints at it, holding it up to the sunlight, which enters his passageway at a slant. His eyesight is poor. He sees the name of his lodger, who yesterday left for Kent. The theatres are closed, because of the plague, by order of the court, and so the lodger and his company of players have taken themselves off to tour nearby towns, places where it is permitted to gather in a crowd.”
- Maggie O’Farrell, Hamnet
This book was recommended and passed onto me by the wonderful @jamieknits . I’m so glad she did!
A story about loss, a story about grief, family and the passage of time in the late 1500’s. Hamnet is the name of a boy, who’s father becomes famous playwright (I wonder who), but even fame does not render you unscathed by the presence of a sudden and tragic death.
Letters and time and passed back and forth in this novel, and we see snapshots of characters whose lives are hard. You are so immersed in the everyday tasks, the ordinary lives of these people, yet there are remarkable things about each of them which keep the novel exciting.
Medicine and healing are also themes that crop up throughout. A relationship between women and natural medicines, a tender and cruel pang when these things fail at the critical moment they are needed. The quote above about gathering in a crowd made me smile too because, you know, life at the moment.
- Maggie O’Farrell, Hamnet
This book was recommended and passed onto me by the wonderful @jamieknits . I’m so glad she did!
A story about loss, a story about grief, family and the passage of time in the late 1500’s. Hamnet is the name of a boy, who’s father becomes famous playwright (I wonder who), but even fame does not render you unscathed by the presence of a sudden and tragic death.
Letters and time and passed back and forth in this novel, and we see snapshots of characters whose lives are hard. You are so immersed in the everyday tasks, the ordinary lives of these people, yet there are remarkable things about each of them which keep the novel exciting.
Medicine and healing are also themes that crop up throughout. A relationship between women and natural medicines, a tender and cruel pang when these things fail at the critical moment they are needed. The quote above about gathering in a crowd made me smile too because, you know, life at the moment.