By Maggie O'Farrell
Review
A 2026 Top Rated Read
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell is the fictionalised story of Hamnet, the son of English playwright William Shakespeare and his wife Agnes (Anne) Hathaway. Little is known of Hamlet's life except that he had an elder sister, Susanna, a twin sister, Judith, and he died aged 11.
The author has written a beautiful account of what could have taken place. It touches the heart and brings the past to life. I couldn't help but be swept along by an emotional and deeply moving story.
Characterisation was so superb that I felt as though I'd been plucked from the 21st Century and dropped straight into the 16th; such was the vivid picture of Elizabethan England. This was a truly wonderful read which will stay in my thoughts for a very long time.
★★★★★
- Print Length: 384 pages
- Publisher: Tinder Press
- Publication Year: 2020
- Author: Maggie O'Farrell
- Genre: Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
Synopsis
The untold love story that inspired Shakespeare's greatest masterpiece.
On a summer's day in 1596, a young girl in Stratford-upon-Avon takes to her bed with a sudden 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 Hamnet will not survive the week.
Hamnet tells the powerful story of Agnes and Will, and of the son whose life has been all but forgotten, but who inspired one of the greatest plays ever written.
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