From its publication date in 2020, I’ve had a copy of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel Hamnet both on my TBR and on my bookshelf, but for reasons I won’t get into, I never got around to picking it up. It wasn’t until recent months, with the awards buzz around the critically acclaimed film adaptation making the rounds, that I was reminded I still had the book on my shelf waiting to be read, so I figured, perhaps now would be a good time to read it.
Going into this one, my expectations were high, as many of my bookish friends love O’Farrell’s works and praise this book as being her most masterful and exquisite, so of course, I had to experience it for myself. Now after having finished reading this, I have to say that, yes, my friends were absolutely correct – though in addition to masterful and exquisite, I would also characterize O’Farrell’s writing here as both sublime and beautiful. From the novel’s first line, I immediately felt transported back to the England of the 1500s, drawn in by the story of these two ordinary families – one living in an apartment on Henley Street and the other on a farm called Hewlands – and the extraordinary couple that emerges from their midst. O’Farrell’s rendering of their backstory is both haunting and atmospheric, with its nonlinear jumps between past and present as well as the emotionally nuanced undertones that breathtakingly brought all the characters to vivid life.
For the record, I am not much of a Shakespeare fan and have only read a handful of his plays (with Romeo and Juliet, unsurprisingly, being my favorite) – and it’s important to note that I have not read the famous play directly associated with this novel (though of course, as an English Literature major, I’ve had to read and analyze excerpts from Hamlet so I do have some familiarity with it). For those who might be in the same boat as me and are concerned about whether the lack of Shakespearean literary bona fides will impact the reading experience here, I would say don’t worry about that because the focus of this story is actually not on Shakespeare. In fact, the bard’s name is never even mentioned in the story – instead, he is either referred to based on his relationship with others in the story (i.e.: John and Mary’s son, Agnes’s husband, Hamnet’s father, etc.) or if he is mentioned individually, he is called, simply, the Latin tutor.
Rather than Shakespeare, this story is actually about his wife Anne Hathaway, who is referred to as “Agnes” in the story (in her Author’s Note, O’Farrell explains that most people know Shakespeare’s wife as Anne, but her father Richard Hathaway named her “Agnes” in his will, so O’Farrell decided to follow that example). Labeled by many as eccentric and unconventional – a “forest witch” who seems to have the power to heal through her natural tonics and potions as well as the ability to see into people’s souls – Agnes is nonetheless a loving and fiercely protective mother who finds her world torn apart when her beloved son Hamnet dies from the plague. O’Farrell portrays the intensity of Agnes’s grief over the loss of her son in ways both palpable and heartbreaking, to the point that I could actually feel her pain. The last scene of the story was especially poignant and moving, with the last line continuing to haunt me even days after I finished reading this book.
This beautifully rendered reimagining of a little known aspect in the life of a literary giant is definitely a highly recommended read! I’m not sure if I will end up watching the adaptation but I’m glad that it triggered the opportunity for me to finally read O’Farrell’s masterpiece.
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