Hamnet is a historical fiction book by Maggie O’Farrell.    The life and circumstances of William Shakespeare’s life has been more of an outline than a full biography, but we do know some of the basics.   This novel builds a story from young Shakespeare’s family life, his courting and marriage to Agnes, the birth of his three children, and the time of his family’s life in Stratford, while he develops his place in the theater in London.   Shakespeare himself is not named and the story is largely told by Agnes, a free-spirited women who is spiritually linked to the natural world, helping others, and to the welfare of her children.   Her husband has no trade, so he supports his father’s glove making business, and he is sent to London to support the business venture, but he is inexplicably spending much of his time at the theater.   The story is told from a limited perspective of family members in Stratford and they have no inkling of Shakespeare’s rising fame and fortune.   Their two youngest children are twins.    The girl, Judith was sickly and surprised everyone by surviving.    Her twin Hamnet was strong, bright, and well-liked.    At the age of 11, Judith comes down with the plague and Hamnet wishes he could take the disease away from her.     He joins her sick bed and soon he is sick and eventually dies (in 1596).    Agnes and Judith are devastated.    The father returns from London too late and chooses not to stay long.   The family resents his absence and the marriage seems unwell in the months that follow.

When Agnes hears that her husband has written a play about Hamnet/Hamlet, she is angry and travels to London to confront her husband, but she witnesses the play and she understands that an element of the script is a tribute to their son.    The ending of the story is very moving, one of the best in all of literature.

The book is poignant, but life-affirming, a sensitive rendering of historical facts and deep characterization.   Themes of love, ambition/destiny, grief, and family ties are wound through the narrative.

The novel has been widely acclaimed, but it also sits on my shelf of one of the best books I have read.

Highly recommended – 5.0/5.0 stars.