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I’ve finally gotten back to my backlist TBR, and I finally read this book everyone loves, myself now included!

Over the years, I’ve bought just about every book Maggie O’Farrell has written and somehow managed to save them all unread, until now. Does anyone else do this? Save an entire backlist?

The first thing I was struck by was the high readability. I wanted to rush through because the writing was smoothly presented, but I wanted to slow down and savor this well-loved story, so slow down I did. I enjoyed every word, every page, every morsel.

I thought this story would center on Shakespeare, but instead, his wife Agnes was the focus for the most part, and I think that’s part of what makes this book so magical: Agnes. A woman of the woods, a healer, a mystic in many ways, a wife, and a mother. This is such a story of motherhood and the loss of a child that, as much as I share books with my mom, I don’t think she should read this book, having lost a child, too, because of how tender and real the pain is. Above all else, I want a story to feel real, and that’s absolutely what this was in full dimension.

When I added this one to my backlist TBR for this year, so many of you cheered, and when I finally picked it up, I received the same reaction. Every single one of you was right, of course. Hamnet is quite simply a must-read. I’ll never forget this reading experience and now I sincerely do want to read all of Maggie O’Farrell’s books straight away. A masterpiece.

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