A Very Good Read

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

In the 1580’s a couple living in Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. The boy Hamnet died aged eleven. Four years or so later, the father wrote a play called Hamlet.

The story starts on a summer’s day in 1596. A young girl takes to her bed with a fever. Her twin brother, Hamnet, searches everywhere for help. Why is nobody at home?

Their mother Agnes, is over a mile away tending her garden where she grows medicinal herbs. Their father is working in London. Neither parent knows that one of their children will not survive the week.

This beautifully written novel, almost poetic in places, is inspired by the son of a famous playwright. The playwright is never mentioned by name, just referred to as husband, father, brother or son. It is a story of the bond between twins, and of a marriage pushed to the brink by grief.

It is also the story of a kestrel and its mistress; a flea that boards a ship in Alexandria; and a glovemaker’s son who flouts convention in pursuit of the woman he loves. Above all, it is the tender reimagining of a boy whose life has been all but forgotten, but whose name was given to one of the most celebrated plays ever written.

∼ Happy Reading∼ 

Polly x