Book Review: HAMNET by Maggie O'Farrell

 

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"You will stay, is what he whispers. And I will go. He sends these words into her: I want you to take my life. It shall be yours. I give it to you."

Close inspection of the title on the cover will reveal that the N is italicized. It alone among all the letters. "A rose by any other name" tells us that Hamnet IS Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark studied by every school child on the planet.

The book, however, tells of the true-to-life Hamnet, son of The Bard himself, whose short life impacted not just that of his family but the whole world. Maggie O' Farrell brought Elizabethan England to life in amazing technicolor, with smells and sights that utterly transported me.

"He will carry an open wound, down his side, for the rest of his life, where she had been ripped from him."

Grief has many names but Maggie O' Farrell managed to capture this universal pain and fear so movingly, so accurately, that it is like she has felt its knives herself.

And I know that reading a book about the Plague and its twin, Death, may not have been the brightest idea... but I felt drawn to this book somehow, despite having purchased it BEFORE coming to know of its evil intimately.

And yes, there were several pages that I had to put down because of an almost tangible tear in what I prayed would be a freshly bandaged heart, but ultimately this book was a comfort despite the heartache.

It tells of the redemptive power in Art, whether onstage, in Literature, or the art of a well-run household. It sings of the Art of Life.

Life goes on, the book says. Yes, it is difficult. Once touched by death, one's entire world ... one's very self is altered. But milk continues to spoil, birds still sing to greet the new day. And we need to put aside all grief and pain to carry on with this terribly short, beautiful gift called Life.

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