Hamnet
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4.2 • 158 Ratings
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- £9.99
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- £9.99
Publisher Description
WINNER OF THE 2020 WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION - THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 2021
'Richly sensuous... something special' The Sunday Times
'A thing of shimmering wonder' David Mitchell
TWO EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE. A LOVE THAT DRAWS THEM TOGETHER. A LOSS THAT THREATENS TO TEAR THEM APART.
On a summer's day in 1596, a young girl in Stratford-upon-Avon 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, in the garden where she grows medicinal herbs. Their father is working in London. Neither parent knows that one of the children will not survive the week.
Hamnet is a novel inspired by the son of a famous playwright. 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; 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 a tender and unforgettable 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.
(P)2020 Headline Publishing Group Ltd
Customer Reviews
*Bittersweet*
This story for me is a little hard to sum up and although a work of fiction the language used for the times is fitting. It is a fictional tale about love and loss, based on Hamnet who was William Shakespeare and his wife Anne Hathaway’s only son who had a fraternal twin Judith. The story through two timelines from Hamnet’s birth to his tragic end passing
It is beautifully weaved together and felt like an experience travelling through the ages and the events of Hamnet’s short life which inspired Shakespeare to write the play Hamlet. Hamnet his son who would forever remain a boy.
I recommend this book, Maggie O’Farrell created a wonderful masterpiece
Hamnet
Unsurprisingly a must read and book club classic. Beautifully written
Beautifully written
I was totally captivated by this beautifully written story. As a sister, wife and mother this story spoke to me in many ways.