Hamnet

Listen to the bestselling novel before you see the award winning film

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Hamnet

By: Maggie O'Farrell

Narrated by: Jessie Buckley

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About this listen

**LISTEN TO HAMNET STAR JESSIE BUCKLEY'S UNFORGETTABLE NEW RECORDING BEFORE YOU SEE THE FILM**

'Richly sensuous... something special' The Sunday Times
'A thing of shimmering wonder' David Mitchell

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 sudden 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 Hamnet will not survive the week.

Hamnet is a novel inspired by the son of a famous playwright: 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 - THE NO. 1 BESTSELLER 2021
WINNER: WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION
WINNER: FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR, BRITISH BOOK AWARDS
WINNER: BOOKS ARE MY BAG READER'S CHOICE AWARD
AS FEATURED ON BBC2'S BETWEEN THE COVERS
SHORTLISTED: AN POST IRISH NOVEL OF THE YEAR, WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION©2020 Maggie O'Farrell

Maggie O'FarrellJessie BuckleyTinder Press

Biographical Fiction

Family Life

Genre Fiction

Historical Fiction

Literary Fiction

Renaissance

Fiction

Biographical Fiction Family Life Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Renaissance Fiction

Critic Reviews

Stunning. The writing is exquisite, immersive and compelling... deserves to win prizes

The story of Hamnet Shakespeare has been waiting in the shadows for over four hundred years. Maggie O'Farrell brings it dazzlingly, devastatingly, into the light

Grief and loss so finely written I could hardly bear to read it

Heartstopping. Hamnet does for the Shakespeare story what Jean Rhys did for Jane Eyre, inhabiting, enlarging and enriching it in ways that will alter the reader's view for ever

Blisteringly brilliant... You'll lap up this intricately told story of grief, love and the bond between twins

[A] rich imagining of the lives of Shakespeare's family enchants... O'Farrell's remarkable novel bursts with life

A beautiful read. A devastating one. Intricate, and breathtakingly imaginative

A bold undertaking. Beautifully imagined and written

Richly sensuous...something special

The novel of her career... everyone I know who has managed to get hold of a copy is absolutely in love with it

A staggeringly beautiful and unbearably poignant novel. O'Farrell is one of the most surprisingly quiet radicals in fiction

Most relevant

Such an engaging story: rich in historical context and range and intensity of human emotions; developed with satisfying detail and length; of beautiful literary quality; and all elements elevated with the great narration. A rare treat, quite superb.