I don’t know much about Shakespeare and I am not very interested in historical fiction, but the voice, often of a breathless quality, was so well crafted I was hooked from the start and found it hard to stop listening. It could be too melodramatic if it wasn’t so compelling in its diction. This tone and delivery was so perfect (via the audiobook), that I can’t imagine having as an enjoyable experience with the physical copy. It’s so predisposed to the spoken word and begs a good performance.

The structure was pretty interesting, and I think maybe this skews either way? After all, if you’re hyper aware of Hamnet references in works, maybe you’ll be critical of the interpretation and dislike the characterization or extrapolation of events. Knowing nothing makes this a non issue and made it all the more interesting to me.

Characterization felt quite good, especially with Agnes, who felt absolutely fascinating and captivating to me. While other characters did take to the back stage for me, there was more than enough going on with the prose when it was not centering on her that I was absolutely fine allowing for the narrative to go wherever and do whatever it pleased. Almost certainly I’ll be buying the audiobook despite having listened to it already via Libby.