Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

‘Miraculous’ Observer

‘A bold undertaking, beautifully imagined and written’ Claire Tomalin

TWO EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE. A LOVE THAT DRAWS THEM TOGETHER. A LOSS THAT THREATENS TO TEAR THEM APART.

On a summer’s day in 1596, a young girl in Stratford-upon-Avon takes to her bed with a fever. Her twin brother, Hamnet, searches everywhere for help. Why is nobody at home?

Their mother, Agnes, is over a mile away, in the garden where she grows medicinal herbs. Their father is working in London. Neither parent knows that one of the children will not survive the week.

HAMNET is a novel inspired by the son of a famous playwright. It is a story of the bond between twins, and of a marriage pushed to the brink by grief. It is also the story of a kestrel and its mistress; flea that boards a ship in Alexandria; and a glovemaker’s son who flouts convention in pursuit of the woman he loves. Above all, it is a tender and unforgettable reimagining of a boy whose life has been all but forgotten, but whose name was given to one of the most celebrated plays ever written.

WINNER OF THE 2020 WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION
WINNER – BOOKS ARE MY BAG READER’S CHOICE AWARDS
SHORTLISTED WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION
SHORTLISTED: BRITISH BOOK AWARDS FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR
A BOOK OF THE YEAR, BBC, GUARDIAN, TIMES, TELEGRAPH, NEW YORK TIMES, WASHINGTON POST AND MORE

About the Author: 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.

31 Mar 2020
 

Hamnet: WINNER OF THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2020 by Maggie O’Farrell ISBN 9781472223807