Hamnet
Review of the novel by Maggie O’Farrell
Imagine Shakespeare loved his wife Anne (Agnes) Hathaway, and she loved him, and all her children were his children, and he went home to Stratford when he could to be with them. Imagine the death of their son Hamnet (Hamlet) at age 11 is a shock that pushes the parents apart. Imagine that the first time she sees a play of his performed it is his play Hamlet a few years later, and he doesn’t know that she is in the audience.
This a quick read. There are few passages that make you stop and ponder, that you will remember.
One exception is a question that Judith, Hamnet’s twin sister, asks her mother, soon after the death of Hamnet, when they are11.
“What is the word … for someone who was a twin but is no longer a twin?”
You might want to compare this book to my novel Shakespeare’s Twin Sister http://amazon.com/dp/1736731874
