Hamnet

Reviews

A New York Times Top Ten Book of 2020

WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD
WINNER OF THE 2020 WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION

"[An] exceptional winner. . . . It expresses something profound about the human experience that seems both extraordinarily current and at the same time, enduring.” —Martha Lane Fox, Chair of The Women's Prize for Fiction judges

"Hamnet & Judith is an exploration of marriage and grief written into the silent opacities of a life that is at once extremely famous and profoundly obscure . . . In Hamnet & Judith, Shakespeare's marriage is complicated and troubled, yet brimming with love and passion . . . This novel is at once about the transfiguration of life into art—it is O'Farrell's extended speculation on how Hamnet's death might have fueled the creation of one of his father's greatest plays—and at the same time, it is a master class in how she, herself does it . . . O'Farrell has a melodic relationship to language. There is a poetic cadence to her writing and a lushness in her descriptions of the natural world . . . We can smell the tang of the various new leathers in the glover's workshop, the fragrance of the apples racked a finger-width apart in the winter storage shed, and we can see how the pale London sun "reaches down, like ladders, through the narrow gaps in buildings to illuminate the rain glazed street.". . . As the book unfolds, it brings its story to a tender and ultimately hopeful conclusion: that even the greatest grief, the most damaged marriage, and most shattered heart might find some solace, some healing." —Geraldine Brooks, The New York Times Book Review

"All too timely . . . inspired . . . [An] exceptional historical novel." —The New Yorker

"Magnificent and searing . . . A family saga so bursting with life, touched by magic, and anchored in affection that I only wish it were true. Of all the stories that argue and speculate about Shakespeare’s life, about whether he even wrote his own plays, here is a novel that matches him with a woman overwhelmingly more than worthy . . . I nearly drowned at the end of this book, and at some other spots besides. It would be wise to keep some tissues handy. Hamnet & Judith is so gorgeously written that it transports you from our own plague time right into another and makes you glad to be there." —The Boston Globe

"A thing of shimmering wonder." —David Mitchell

"Hamnet & Judith is a beautiful read, a devastating one, intricate, and breathtakingly imaginative. It will stay with me a long time." —Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

"What could be more common, over centuries and continents, than the death of a child—and yet Maggie O'Farrell, with her flawless sentences and furious heart, somehow makes it new. This story of remarkable people bereft of their boy will leave you shaking with loss but also the love from which family is spun." —Emma Donoghue, author of Room

"Love, grief, hope, resilience—the world of this novel is so vivid I could nearly smell the grass in the fields, hear the rain in the gutters. In moments where the story shoots up to heaven I was there, too, grieving with these characters, feeling how lucky weall are to be alive, understanding how desperately we want the people we love to be remembered. It’s without a doubt one of the best novels I’ve ever read." —Mary Beth Keane, author of Ask Again, Yes

"Stunning. The writing is exquisite, immersive and compelling . . . deserves to win prizes." —Marian Keyes
 
"One of the most eagerly awaited books of the spring. . . . [Hamnet & Judith] takes an unconventional approach to literary history and has already been hailed as a critical hit." —The Guardian

"Miraculous. . . . [A] beautiful imagination of the short life of Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet, and the untold story of his wife, 'Agnes' Hathaway, which builds into a profound exploration of the healing power of creativity." —The Observer

"The story of Hamnet Shakespeare has been waiting in the shadows for over four hundred years. Maggie O’Farrell brings it dazzlingly, devastatingly, into the light." —Kamila Shamsie, author of Home Fire
 
"Blisteringly brilliant. . . . You’ll lap up this intricately told story of grief, love and the bond between twins." —Cosmopolitan UK

"Heartstopping. Hamnet & Judith does for the Shakespeare story what Jean Rhys did for Jane Eyre, inhabiting, enlarging and enriching it in ways that will alter the reader’s view for ever." —Patrick Gale, author of Take Nothing With You
 
"Grief and loss so finely written I could hardly bear to read it." —Sarah Moss, author of Ghost Wall
 
"Hamnet & Judith knits the loose threads of Shakespeare's shadowy family life into a shimmering tapestry. Rooted in history but lightly drawn, this dreamlike novel builds to a haunting finish. Gorgeous, penetrating, and memorable." —Alix Hawley, author of My Name Is a Knife

"Hamnet & Judith is breathtaking—as rich in historical detail as it is emotionally resonant. This is O'Farrell at her best." —Claire Cameron, author of The Last Neanderthal

"Luminous and sensual, Hamnet & Judith draws open a curtain on a new vision of Shakespeare’s children and mysterious marriage. O’Farrell’s creation of Anne (Agnes) Hathaway as a strong, dark, visioning person carries such poignancy, beauty and surprise—yet seems the perfect answer to what Shakespeare’s wife might have been like. In fact, Maggie O’Farrell has imagined a Shakespearean heroine, unschooled yet intuitively gifted, flesh to his brilliant mind. A fascinating exploration into the domestic roots of one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies." —Shaena Lambert, author of Petra and Oh, My Darling
 
"A bold undertaking, beautifully imagined and written." —Claire Tomalin, author of Charles Dickens: A Life

"I don’t know how anyone could fail to love this book. It is a marvel: a great work of imaginative recreation and a great story. It is also a moral achievement to have transformed that young child from being a literary footnote into someone so tenderly alive that part of you wishes he had survived and Hamlet never been written." —Dominic Dromgoole, author of Hamlet Globe to Globe Expand reviews