Hamnet

[MaMaLa321]

Apologies if there is a thread for this already, as I know it's been out for sometime. But I had to come on and say what a great book it is. Best thing I've read in ages.

I've just found the other thread of this from December in Chat.
One person didn't like that the heroine 'faffs around with herbs' and I do have to confess that , yes, I did have to overcome my irritation with the herb faffing, which seems to be de rigeur with historical fiction these days. I would just love to have a character come along and say 'you know that cowslip and comfrey poltice you gave me? Well, the ulcer's gone but my leg's dropped off'
However.. given that I loved the book, despite that, means, IMO, it's pretty damn good.

I just finished this today and loved it, I didn't know much about Anne Hathaway or her children and I usually get irritated with too much descriptive stuff but faffing about with herbs was all they could do. Poor Hamnet

Lovely and poignant, I really enjoyed it. I actually quite enjoyed the herb faffing! Definitely a top read of 2020!

I thought it was amazing, and I didn't mind the herbs. I am not especially interested in that period of history, so I wasn't expecting to love it, but she totally drew me into the period with all the little details of their lives.

I adored this book.
My favourite so far this year.
The way MoF dealt with the parents' grief was very moving.

Got 3/4s through it and couldnt face continuing

Loved it. Soothed by the detail and adored the characters.

I bought the paperback as i love Maggie O’Farrell and I’m very interested in the subject. Sadly was quite disappointed. ☹️ Not sure why, it just didn’t spark my interest.

I didn't like it - thought it was pretty dull for the most part, and the writing style irritated me. Failing to name Shakespeare annoyed me too - it was irritating in Wolf Hall re Cromwell, and even more irritating in this one as it seemed derivative.

I absolutely loved it. I love Maggie O'Farrell and this didn't disappoint.

A friend who is a fan of MoF didn’t enjoy Hamnett and said that it was a huge departure from her other books.

Having only read Hamnett (and loved it!) would be interested to know if this is true.

I loved it from the start, and that ending was so moving and so right.

I started this a while back but dropped off after a few chapters, need to get back into it.

I'm quite partial to a bit if herb faffing, truth be told

Made me weep buckets. I have a little boy and it just broke me.

You do realise that the ‘faffing about with herbs’ was based on historical fact re. Ann Hathaway’s life?

Very different style to her previous books, but the given the context of the subject that’s nor surprising.

I’ve read all her books and hugely enjoyed them all.

I've just finished it and loved it. I am a big fan of Maggie O'Farrell anyway. I enjoyed the herbs!

I am reading it now and enjoying the herb faffing.

I’ve only read instructions for a heatwave before which I thought was actually quite similar in terms of looking intimately at a family and parent/child relationships.

But. . . I think the dialogue is lacking a bit. I would imagine Shakespeare came from a witty family with lots of jesting, blagging and chatter. It is missing a falstaff character.

Absolutely loved it and I don’t usually like historical fiction.
One of the most powerfully moving books I’ve read for ages. I had to read whole paragraphs over and over.
It’s completely different to her other books, most of which are contemporary.
I also really loved the historical detail and the herbs.

@Chickoletta

You do realise that the ‘faffing about with herbs’ was based on historical fact re. Ann Hathaway’s life?

The only ‘facts’ we have about AH are her parentage, documentation about her own birth, marriage, death, the births/deaths/marriages of her children, a reference in the will of her father’s shepherd, that she was pregnant when she married WS, that he spent most of their married life working in London, and the bequest in his will.

Everything else is pure supposition.

Best book I’ve read all year. I had to keep slowing myself down to enjoy her writing

Opposite to some on here, I’m not generally a Maggie o’Farrell fan .., but I loved, loved this book. Having children around the same age made their family life, and all their grief come alive for me.

I am definitely in the minority. Thought it was a load of pretentious nonsense hanging on the few details we have of Hamnet’s early death and as for turning Anne Hathaway into some weirdo well... as said before I am in the minority.

I loved it. I thought the psychological depiction of grief and family relationships was brilliant, very believable. I also liked the details of day to day life and particularly the lives of women in that era.

I’m also in the minority who didn’t like it. Maybe I might have enjoyed it more had it been a random family nothing to do with Shakespeare. Mind you, I also generally don’t like narrative written in present tense. And this is third person present, which annoyed me quite a lot. Possibility exacerbated even more by it being historical fiction in present tense. I know I’m weird.