Hamnet | O'Farrell, Maggie

WINNER OF THE 2020 WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION - THE NO. 1 BESTSELLER 2021

'Richly sensuous... something special' The Sunday Times

'A thing of shimmering wonder' David Mitchell



TWO EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE. A LOVE THAT DRAWS THEM TOGETHER. A LOSS THAT THREATENS TO TEAR THEM APART.



On a summer's day in 1596, a young girl in Stratford-upon-Avon takes to her bed with a sudden fever. Her twin brother, Hamnet, searches everywhere for help. Why is nobody at home?



Their mother, Agnes, is over a mile away, in the garden where she grows medicinal herbs. Their father is working in London.



Neither parent knows that Hamnet will not survive the week.



Hamnet is a novel inspired by the son of a famous playwright: a boy whose life has been all but forgotten, but whose name was given to one of the most celebrated plays ever written.