Book Review: Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

 

Hamnet 

Maggie O'Farrell 

When I started this book I found it insufferable. The first section is very anxiety inducing while meandering about overdrawn metaphors. I found the characters irritating. And it felt cruel to be given the spoiler to what half the book leads up to. So you just keep wondering when it's gonna happen.

I recall being drawn in for the first time as soon as the storyline regarding Agnes began. She is a uniquely caricatured character that you easily sympathize with. It felt like the author finally finds her footing by centering the perspective from Agnes.

After starting the book with such indifference, I was a bit taken aback to find myself on the verge of tears on a bus while halfway through. Despite the drawn out writing, the book manages to entwine the readers interest in the characters' wellbeing surreptitiously. The children's voices I initially found irksome became the most emotionally rich. You become one with Agnes' desperation to change the fate of what is coming.

The ending that tries to justify the playwright's usage of his son's name in the eponymous play felt forced and unconvincing. I shared Agnes' indignation in trying to make sense of the move. And despite her portrayed recognition of his anguish in the themes of the play, knowing the plot of the same makes it a hard sell.

Despite the many flaws and the stretched out ornate writing, I enjoyed the book as an experience. It is a languid exploration of life and grief. The author breathes a strange new life into these historical figures despite unsatisfactory motives.