Thursday, October 7, 2021

Hamnet

  ~ I received no compensation and opinions are 100% my own or my family. ~



Synopsis (from Amazon):  In 1580’s England, during the Black Plague a young Latin tutor falls in love with an extraordinary, eccentric young woman in this “exceptional historical novel” (The New Yorker) and best-selling winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction. 

Agnes is a wild creature who walks her family’s land with a falcon on her glove and is known throughout the countryside for her unusual gifts as a healer, understanding plants and potions better than she does people. Once she settles with her husband on Henley Street in Stratford-upon-Avon she becomes a fiercely protective mother and a steadfast, centrifugal force in the life of her young husband, whose career on the London stage is taking off when his beloved young son succumbs to sudden fever.

A luminous portrait of a marriage, a shattering evocation of a family ravaged by grief and loss, and a tender and unforgettable re-imagining of a boy whose life has been all but forgotten, and whose name was given to one of the most celebrated plays of all time, Hamnet is mesmerizing, seductive, impossible to put down—a magnificent leap forward from one of our most gifted novelists.


One (or more) Sentence Summary: I have to disclose - it took me two attempts to read Hamnet and I am so happy I went back the second time.  I LOVED IT! If you try or tried it and couldn't get into the story the first time, I recommend trying again. 

A spin on Shakespeare's life was very interesting. I loved all the parts about Agnes and her potions. Brought tears to my eyes grieving the lost of child. It was so raw. It is very hard for me to explain the book, as there was a lot characters and a lot going on.  I wouldn't do the book justice if I tried….

Hamnet really is a must read - don't give up on it as it is amazing!

Maggie O'Farrell is the author of the Sunday Times no. 1 bestselling memoir I AM, I AM, I AM, and eight novels: AFTER YOU'D GONE, MY LOVER'S LOVER, THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US, which won a Somerset Maugham Award, THE VANISHING ACT OF ESME LENNOX, THE HAND THAT FIRST HELD MINE, which won the 2010 Costa Novel Award, INSTRUCTIONS FOR A HEATWAVE, which was shortlisted for the 2013 Costa Novel Award, THIS MUST BE THE PLACE, which was shortlisted for the 2016 Costa Novel Award, and HAMNET. She lives in Edinburgh.

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