Is Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell worth your time?

Since moving into a new home, I needed to start getting involved in the community so I joined the local library book club. 

Although there was one book that was to be read I was to start with the book that the group had read before and that was Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers. 

However, I am considering starting to write my blog again more consistently while reading that book. I decided to start with the book that they had read before that. That was Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell. So I will begin.

 What is the synopsis?

The book is set in Elizabethan times when Queen Elizabeth the 1st on the throne. It is about a woman and her family. It begins with the loss of a child called Hamnet and then goes back to when the woman Agnes falls pregnant before marriage. Then loops back to the present time for her and how she deals with the loss and the family's own reaction.

The themes:

There are a group themes for this novel and they are:

• Death

• Love

• History

• Family dynamics

Death:

This is an obvious one with the death of Hamnet. So it is easy to see. Although a short one.

Love:

This one is not such an obvious one although it is combined with death because of Hamnet's death but also the early love between Agnes and her lover who becomes her husband while pregnant. And when they drift apart.

History:

This one is again so obvious as Maggie O'Farrell has used language and description as well as setting. She used a specific dateline of 1596 as this is when the child Hamnet died as a main link for the entire book.

Family dynamics:

This theme is a little more subtle than the others but it is the biggest one. The reason for this is many people are secondary characters. These included Agnes’s husband, siblings, children, parents and in-laws. 

My Thoughts:

For me, this was a tough book to start especially with the split in the beginning. But I pushed through and enjoyed it. Because I heard about it before reading it. I was intrigued by how Maggie O'Farrell wrote it. She used the historical truth as a basis. It is based on the time of William Shakespeare's life and the actual death of his son who is called Hamnet. Maggie also told the truth from Agnes, his first wife's point of view. Although much of the story is fiction, those bits are based on truth. So is it worth it?  Well, that is up to you! I did enjoy many of the subplots as well as the main one.

So Much freedom

 

I can't wait to put out more book reviews. It is so freeing.

Since focusing more on my blog I have been able to focus on more books that are for pleasure.

So although my last review was a self-help book in the post I really enjoyed it. 

I chose the book because there were both aspects of education and pleasure. I think books should be for pleasure but also for learning. I know that when I was at school studying for my GCSEs I hated reading.

I was only reading books that were for my exams and nothing for pleasure.

Again I felt like that while reading business books when I was working in Multi-Level-Marketing or Network Sales.

I know that they were important to read to help me grow as a business owner but I prefer to read for pleasure.

Right now I am in the process of reading a new book to review which will be out soon. Unlike the last book, the book I am reading at the moment is for pleasure.

I like a lot of different genres such as crime, mystery, biography, history and many more. And I love reading different authors and new ones although I have my favourite writers. These include Terry Pratchett, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, just to name a few.

I would love to know who your favourite authors are and see if there is someone I haven’t read yet. Tell me what your favourite book is? And I will see if it is something that I have not read. Then maybe I can read it.

Let me know what you like

Love and Peace

Xxx