Our Book Of The Month for January is Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell. For our online Book Clubbers we have some questions below for you to get involved with. Either answer in the comments section or use as discussion points at your next Book Club. If you haven’t read the book check out our Lowdown all about it here.
Hamnet – the blurb
On a summer’s day in 1596, a young girl in Stratford-upon-Avon takes to her bed with a 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 one of the children will not survive the week.
Hamnet is a novel inspired by the son of a famous playwright. It is a story of the bond between twins, and of a marriage pushed to the brink by grief. It is also the story of a kestrel and its mistress; flea that boards a ship in Alexandria; and a glovemaker’s son who flouts convention in pursuit of the woman he loves. Above all, it is a tender and unforgettable reimagining of a boy whose life has been all but forgotten, but whose name was given to one of the most celebrated plays ever written.
Discussion Points
The following are written with the presumption you have read Hamnet. If you haven’t, bookmark the post and come back to answer the questions later.
- Obvious question first – why didn’t O’Farrell ever name Shakespeare? Did this add another layer to the story?
- We know from the blurb that Hamnet dies. Yet 100 pages in he is still alive. Why does O’Farrell prolong incorporating his death?
- When Agnes watches Hamlet on stage she at first doesn’t understand any connection to her son. Can you see any connection to Hamlet and Hamnet? Has the book made you want to read Hamlet?
- John and Joan were pretty nasty figures in the book yet neither seemed to get their comeuppance. Did this bother you or was it more realistic to not have everything tied off?
- How do you think ‘the father’ and Agnes moved on after she had watched Hamlet? They remained married until he died, do you think they were happy?
Get Involved
Feel free to answer as many of the questions as you want. Post your replies below, discuss with us on social media using @BookSocialUK, or pose some questions of your own. If you enjoyed the questions, have a go at last month’s Get Involved: Away With The Penguins.
