Hamnet

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"I wish I was still teaching." That was the thought I had over and over again while I read this book. It adds such depth to Shakespeare's life - not because it actually focuses on him. It's more about his son and his wife, but the fictionalized Stratford home that O'Farrell created is so well done. With its ties to the plague, this book also felt surprisingly relevant as both the illness and grief took center stage.

I've always loved Hamlet. My English major heart can't get enough it sometimes. And I actually loved teaching Shakespeare - even if my most commonly taught play was Romeo & Juliet to ninth graders. I realize though after reading Hamnet that I could have done a better job entrenching them in the struggle of 16th and 17th century England. One of the reasons Shakespeare was such a novelty to the people of that time was the escape his works provided. I see that now more than ever after reading about O'Farrell's version of what it might have been like to have lost Shakespeare's only son and what it might have been like to be his wife, left behind in Stratford, to deal with her grief alone.

I don't think you need love Shakespeare to love this book, but you do need to be ready for literary fiction and a book that is filled with more trials than triumph. I hope you do read it though. It really is so good.

Happy reading--

Ps. It feels worth mentioning that it is not a spoiler to say that Hamnet dies in the story. It's well documented historical fact and entirely what the book is about.