Book Club – My Selection

This is less the story of the boy Hamnet, and more about the story about his mother Agnes, his father the playwright, their love, their marriage, and their grief following the death of their son.
I loved this book. I loved the language and the structure of the prose. The descriptive language used was musical and swept me straight into their lives. I loved that whilst this was a story that skirted around Shakespeare, that his name is never mentioned. That we’re left to focus on the true central component which is Agnes and her story.

I was left teary several times throughout, at Hamnet’s death, the purchase of the house and the ending. I also loved the chapter in the middle of the book that told the journey of the pestilence and how it came to arrive at Warwickshire and Judith. A clever and interesting passage of writing. I wasn’t 100% taken with the manner in which Hamnet dies but I did appreciate the bond that being a twin can bring. I can definitely understand why this book has received so much praise, a very moving and intriguing piece of historical fiction.