Event box

Book Ends - Hamnet In-Person

Join us for a discussion on Hamnet (2020, Historical Fiction) by Maggie O'Farrell (372 pages, 4.19 on Goodreads). This book was a Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Reader's Favorite Historical Fiction (2020).

Drawing on Maggie O'Farrell's long-term fascination with the little-known story behind Shakespeare's most enigmatic play, Hamnet is a luminous portrait of a marriage, at its heart the loss of a beloved child.

Warwickshire in the 1580s. Agnes is a woman as feared as she is sought after for her unusual gifts. She settles with her husband in Henley street, Stratford, and has three children: a daughter, Susanna, and then twins, Hamnet and Judith. The boy, Hamnet, dies in 1596, aged eleven. Four years or so later, the husband writes a play called Hamlet.

Award-winning author Maggie O'Farrell's new novel breathes full-blooded life into the story of a loss usually consigned to literary footnotes, and provides an unforgettable vindication of Agnes, a woman intriguingly absent from history.

A New York Times Notable Book (2020), Best Book of 2020: Guardian, Financial Times, Literary Hub, and NPR.

Copies of the book will be distributed at the previous meeting and, afterward, are available by visiting the front desk at either Centerville or Woodbourne Library. The book is available in Regular Print, Large Print, eBook, and eAudiobook. No registration is necessary, but participants are encouraged to read the book prior to attending the discussion.