Hamlet, the Origin Story

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

Pages: 372 Genre: historical fiction

Rating: 5 Star

Kindle Notes and Highlights

Warwickshire, 1580s. Agnes is a unique woman that no one can quite make sense of. Her understanding of plants and nature make her healing properties well sought-after. When she settles down with her husband, they have three children: Susanna and the twins, Hamnet and Judith. The boy dies at age 11 (1596), sending shockwaves through the family. And roughly four years later, his father writes Hamlet.

I really enjoyed this book, although I was curious whether I liked it because it's about "Hamlet" or if I liked it because I truly thought it was a good book. But with how beautifully written and highly emotional it was, I think it's fine to say I just liked it.

There were some moments that dragged a little bit. I actually really liked the narration style, despite its wordiness, and I believe it added to the intended affect. But this writing shined more at the middle and end of the book, once we were already established in the plot, more than it did at the beginning. It was a little bit of a slow start, but it worked itself out.

The way grief and loss and the fear that surrounds that was written beautifully. I cried through the last half of the book; this was where O'Farrell's writing hit its pique. It felt like MY son had died of the plague, and MY idiot husband was off in London.

On the subject of the idiot husband, despite being about Shakespeare's son, the book never actually names the playwright. He is referred to by relation or by his jobs, and I found this to be an incredibly effective decision. While it does put the focus more on Agnes, his wife and Hamnet's mother, it also takes some of the power away from the name of Shakespeare. That is one of the most well-known men in history, or at least in the literary canon. Invoking his name means something, but this isn't meant to be A Story About Shakespeare. It's a story about a family, a mother, and a father, in grief. His fame is not the point, and O'Farrell wrote that very well.

I don't know how much of this book is based in reality (I'm assuming very little), and if that's something that matters to you in historical fiction, you should maybe skip this one. But I don't care about that and found the way she built this story to be very charming and endearing. As someone who is highly familiar with "Hamlet," I also really enjoyed how many moments were referential to the play. It didn't beat you over the head with it, but I was catching onto it from the beginning.

This was just a very sweet book. I knew where it was going, but I was so happy to be along for the ride. Even if it is the most emotionally taxing book that I've read so far this year.