David Tanner reviewed Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
Highly recommended
5 stars
Superb writing and a sad, sad, story.
Paperback, 372 pages
English language
Published Dec. 31, 2019 by Tinder Press.
Hamnet
4 stars
(3 reviews)
Drawing on Maggie O'Farrell's long-term fascination with the little-known story behind Shakespeare's most enigmatic play, Hamnet is a luminous portrait of a marriage, at its heart the loss of a beloved child.
Warwickshire in the 1580s. Agnes is a woman as feared as she is sought after for her unusual gifts. She settles with her husband in Henley street, Stratford, and has three children: a daughter, Susanna, and then twins, Hamnet and Judith. The boy, Hamnet, dies in 1596, aged eleven. Four years or so later, the husband writes a play called Hamlet.
Award-winning author Maggie O'Farrell's new novel breathes full-blooded life into the story of a loss usually consigned to literary footnotes, and provides an unforgettable vindication of Agnes, a woman intriguingly absent from history.
loppear reviewed Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
very interior
3 stars
Quiet and nice, of course with grim death and plague and family conflict, but emotional characters well portrayed. I wanted more, yet thankful the plague and Shakespeare bits felt minor.
jv reviewed Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
Review of 'Hamnet' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
La trama del libro queda perfectamente resumida en el breve párrafo que lo abre: "En la década de 1580, una pareja [...] tuvo tres hijos: Susanna y Hamnet y Judith, que eran gemelos. Hamnet, el niño, murió en 1590 a los once años. Cuatro años más tarde su padre escribió una obra de teatro titulada Hamlet".
Alrededor de esa trama, O'Farrel construye una narración minuciosa, penetrante y con la dosis justa de preciosismo centrada esos personajes. Sobre todo en Agnes, la madre, a la que convierte en un personaje complejo y carismático. No es ni mucho menos una novela histórica al uso, sí un relato cautivador sobre una familia y dos tragedias (una real, otra escrita).
Nota: si al principio te parece más morosa de la cuenta, dale tiempo. Merece la pena.
Subjects
- Fiction
- Historical fiction
- Shakespeare
- Black Plague
- Hamlet
- Anne Shakespeare
- Agnes Shakespeare
- William Shakespeare
- Child loss