Et cetera : What We're Reading: Hamnet

‘Hamnet: A Novel of the Plague’ by Maggie O’Farrell checks many boxes for me as a reader. An author I haven’t yet read, film adaptation, Oscar buzz, hypnotic descriptions of the natural world... The novel tells the story of Hamnet, an 11-year-old boy who in 16th Century England discovers his twin sister Judith alone in their home. She is rapidly succumbing to pestilence, and he is desperate to find help. It had my full attention from page one. The author’s fictional account of the two disparate events preceding Judith’s exposure to the disease was particularly appealing to the armchair epidemiologist in me. This story weaves these events and more together to culminate in an early stage production of Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet.’

O’Farrell has taken a scattering of known facts from Shakespearean times and crafted a spell-binding story of one mother’s love for her son set within the contrasting shadows of her husband’s absence and genius. Immersive, imaginative, and unique, I highly recommend it for lovers of historical fiction. Winner of the 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction, ‘Hamnet’ currently has 4.21/5 stars on goodreads.com.

As always, happy reading,

Kelly

Note: The Oscar-nominated film 'Hamnet' is showing at the Vinton Palace Theatre this weekend. It is based on the novel 'Hamnet' by Maggie O'Farrell which is available for checkout at the Vinton Public Library. Stop in and read it before you watch it!