This is an absolute gem of a book.
If I tell you Hamnet is about the death of Shakespeare’s 11-year-old son during the plague, it doesn’t sound like something you would want to read. Perhaps that’s why it took me five years to get around to reading it. In the aftermath of Covid, I wasn’t ready to read anything set in a pandemic, but it turns out my delay was excellent timing, because Hamnet has just been made into an epic movie.
Shakespeare is a minor character – referred to only as ‘the father’ or ‘the Latin tutor’ or the ‘glovers’ son’. Shakespeare’s wife Anne, also known as Agnes, is the main character. And she certainly has ‘main character energy’, (as my kids would say). Agnes has a gift, she knows things, and she is also a healer, using her knowledge of plants and the natural world to create medicines. When her daughter Judith falls ill, Agnes puts all her energy into healing Judith, the weaker of the twins. In her desperation to save Judith, she misses Hamnet’s failing health.
This is the story of a mother’s desperate love and of her powerlessness when it comes to her children. The book depicts a nuanced and complex relationship between Agnes and her famous husband, rather than the stereotypical portrayal of her as a jilted, belligerent wife left behind in Stratford.
This is a story that speaks into the silences – the cause of Hamnet’s death is not known; Shakespeare’s plays never mention the pestilence that was so prominent in his day. Could the ghost of Hamnet be the inspiration behind the tragedy, Hamlet?
Hamnet deals with themes of death, grief, madness, lost potential and the bond between a parent and child. It’s about families – what stiches them together and what tears them apart. It’s a beautiful, tender story that will leave you wanting to know more about these intriguing characters.
-Katrina Roe, RRL
