An extraordinary interpretation of the life Shakespeare’s family might have led, based on the few things we now know about the playwright’s life.

Maggie O’Farrell knows her grief and how to spin it into print. The descriptions of pain and agony are almost poetic and yet so clear, so moving, that you have no trouble imagining just how the characters feel. I almost cried at times, wanted to slap certain characters straight into tomorrow had they not all been dead yet, and enjoyed the beauty of this work of historical fiction tremendously.

I can’t put my finger on why it’s not entirely a five-star read for me, but I see how the author received the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2020 for this book.

Miten kaunis ja koskettava kirja lapsena pois nukkuneesta Hamnetista, äitiydestä ja menettämisestä. Myös sisarusten suhteet Hamnetiin, vanhempiinsa ja suruun olivat koskettavasti kuvatut. Oli ihanaa, ettei kirja keskittynyt isään vaan nimenomaan äitiin.

Rakastin monitasoista ja -näkökulmaista kerrontaa. Etenkin Agnesin nuoruus oli kuvattu kiinnostavasti. Inho Johnia ja Joania kohtaan oli suurta kirjan alusta asti, mutta Marysta tuli kirjan edetessä lähes rakas hahmo.

 This book is a crescendo if there ever was one.

I honestly didn't like it much at first. The pacing is very, very slow, even for how short the book actually is. It bears saying that very little happens externally within this book. It's mostly an internal/emotional exploration (which is something I'm generally not used to when reading and had to get accustomed to). This is particularly potent during the first third-or-so of the book, which absolutely crawled for me. With the style this book is written in, you frequently jump around between not only different characters' perspectives, but also different moments in time. At the start we get only very brief moments with a huge array of characters, and this makes it really hard to invest in any of them, but also makes it hard to just follow what's happening. However, in retrospect, these choices do make sense (for the most part). I do honestly wish the cast was tighter, and we focused more closely on the key characters, particularly at the start, but even the very little moments that seem totally inconsequential become important later on. As well, the jog between the past and present (when we switch between them) smooths out over time, and eventually the hopping stops altogether. By around the 50-70% mark, I actually enjoyed the time hopping. It gave very important context, and sometimes a break from the trauma of the A-plot, and kept me enticed to continue reading ("what's going to happen next in present day???"). 

It was around probably page 150 or 200 that this book really started to click for me. It is first and foremost an emotional and character-focused story. I would honestly say it is 100% character focused, honestly. By the 50 or 60% mark you've gotten very close with Agnes, who I would probably consider the main character, and

William

(spoilered because his name goes unmentioned in the book, but that is indeed who he is), and developed an understanding of who their children and the rest of their family are. So, when things get worse, you feel it. When misfortune befalls the family, when Agnes struggles, when there is a loss, an infidelity, an absence, you feel as if it has befallen you. Maggie O'Farrell's writing is incredibly powerful. This is also one of the most nuanced works I think I've ever read, emotionally speaking. So much is communicated in the margins.

The only other criticism I would have is that in areas the writing really feels like it could have been tightened. There are several sections within this novel that are far, far longer than they have to be. I understand the desire to make your reader feel fully immersed with vivid descriptions, and for the most part, this book succeeds, but there are absolutely passages that tow the line from vividness into over-explaining, and I find myself not more immersed but actually dulled and taken out of it. There are at least four points where I actually skimmed full pages of unnecessary description, with much of it being re-statements of what was already conveyed succinctly in a single paragraph or even a single sentence. There are also sections that, while vivid and interesting, draw a bit too long and include a few too many inconsequential details, and could simply stand to have the fat trimmed off. 

With all that said, this is an incredible book. Because of the criticisms I do have, it isn't a five star for me, but I can very very easily see why it would be for anyone else. It really is incredible. It epitomizes the concept of a "crescendo" novel, starting so quiet and slow and unassuming... but gradually, and so smoothly you don't even notice, ascends into an enveloping symphony of grief and emotion, and then carefully quiets back down. The ending is absolutely beautiful and brilliant. 

Hamnet makes you think why you are doing this to yourself while you are reading it and falling apart, one line at a time. And once you finish reading, you have this overwhelming urge to share it with the entire world. 
Hamnet is the story of Agnes Hathaway, her children Susana, Judith, Hamnet and their absentee father, William Shakespeare. But the Bard here is only an accessory to Agnes' life and her trials and tribulations. It's about how the Bubonic Plague tore apart families, how when the statistics record thousands of death, we forget that a single death can disrupt lives, scar and change people for a lifetime. It's about struggling and coping with loss. It's about how the greatest play ever written can be the residue of a father's grief and guilt. 

Maggie O'Farrell's writing is haunting, devastating and at times it's such a raw, intimate portrayal of relationships, that it almost feels vulgar to invade their pure, private space. She will rip you apart, make you feel feelings you thought you never had and bring tears, which were long silenced by depression medications. She is a magician of words and with this one it seems, she wields her wand with the sole purpose of devastating you. I love how she renders the Bard powerless here by not naming him once, by ripping him of his identity and portraying him as just a son, a husband and a father. I love how Agnes and her children take the stage here and show us that regular faces, not recorded or remembered in history are as much part of the building blocks of the human experience as the ones that stands the test of time. That William Shakespeare could have been just a mediocre glove-maker, had it not been for Agnes and their children. That the greatness of love, loss and grief transcends the boundaries of time. 

Having said that this is not a light read, looking at the very cover of the book is making me feel traumatized now. It should come with trigger warnings in BOLD letters: grief, abandonment, loss of child. 
It's no doubt a 5 star read, if only you have the stomach for it.

Fictional account of the death of Hamnet. Told from the perspective of Shakespeare's wife and daughters. The story focus on how William and his wife Agnes (Anne) met, married and then made a life. Love the way O'Farrell wove her story. This is not a light read. O'Farrell explores the depths of grief with Agnes and then with Hamnet's twin, Judith. The time line does flip back and forth but it is easy to follow.

Incredible. The writing positively shimmers. The emotional journeys are raw and real. A slight element of supernatural forces kept me guessing. I will be thinking about this book for a long time.