HAMNET by Maggie O'Farrell

Shakespeare, how he is just always there. In so many many parts of our culture, our language, our stories. Amazing with his always relevant story telling. But what of his own story behind the plays,  his family  life, what do we really know. Well, as it transpires, not a great deal. And even less about his wife Anne, and his family of three children. As usual in the patriarchy we have lived in for centuries, the lives of women, wives, mothers, daughters really don't feature at all. So, here is a story about Shakespeare's family - his wife Anne, his three children of which very little is known about, and so this wonderful author has taken the few facts and woven a stunning story. 

William Shakespeare is never actually mentioned by name in this story, the character that is him does not even have a name. In fact he is the only character without a name. Agnes is the name of the wife in this story. She has an interesting back story, a woman a little unusual, in less enligjust htened times maybe even accused of being a witch. She has extraordinary knowledge of the medicinal qualities of plants, which she uses to good effect in the village she and her husband live in, with their three children, next to his parents. Until two of her children get ill, and then one dies, their son Hamnet. Whom Shakespeare names his play Hamlet after. The sickness and death of children in these times is not at all unusual, hygiene being what it was, disease being rife, including the plague. There is an intriguing chapter about how the plague comes to the village, to Hamnet and his sister. How a virus can travel so insidiously and anonymously. 

The story is so beautifully written, it makes you feel for Agnes, her children, the loss of a child. 16th century English village life is brought to life, made real. The relationships within the family are so relatable, just like our relationships as couples, as a family are today. The world goes around, the centuries pass, but the basics stay the same. Despite the tragedy central to the story, this is is a story written with love and joy, by an author who cares deeply for her characters and what they are saying. It is perfect.