Maggie O'Farrell imagines the life of William Shakespeare's wife. Since almost everything about her is forgotten to history, O'Farrell has free reign in imagining Agnes as a fierce and misunderstood woman, who marries a poor Latin tutor, the son of a disgraced businessman.

While flashing back to Agnes and William's past, the crux of the story focuses on the death of their son Hamnet, showing the endless depths of grief of a mother who loses a child and imagining how Hamnet's death influenced Shakespeare's famous play, Hamlet, written just four years later.

Hamnet is a slow enveloping read which focuses more on atmosphere than plot. O'Farrell consciously chose to never mention William Shakespeare by name, which I thought was an interesting omission. I loved the lyrical narration which keeps you slightly removed from the story, but readers who don't love literary fiction will probably find Hamnet overrated.