Hamnet—Favorite Book of 2021

By Maggie O’Farrell (published by Tinder Press)

This "side" of Shakespeare—wife, children, parents—is one that I never before considered with any depth. Plus, I was riveted that one of the main characters is the Bubonic Plague.

In our own time of worldwide pandemic and accompanying deaths and fear, this book—with the death of Shakespeare's son, Hamnet—may not be for everyone. Hamnet’s death is wonderfully written but tragic, and the difficult aftermath and deep sorrow felt by his mother, Agnes, is very sad. Still, I found that the writing was so exquisite that I was/am glad to have read it. The passage about how the Bubonic Plague came to Shakespeare's family is a lengthy example of the slow unfolding of information that is a hallmark of Maggie O'Farrell's writing.

Since reading Hamnet, I have read 5 more books written by Maggie O’Farrell (The Hand That First Held Mine...The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox...Instructions for a Heatwave...This Must Be the Place...and I Am, I Am, I Am: 17 Brushes with Death). Her other 3 books are in my queue...(After You’d Gone...My Lover’s Lover...The Distance Between Us).

Incidentally...the SECOND most favorite book of 2021 was I Am, I Am, I Am: 17 Brushes with Death. The ending brought me to tears...