Recently finished: Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
I was torn between 3 and 4 stars on this book, but decided it deserves the less generous rating.
From the outset, let me say it is too beautifully written - wonderfully descriptive, but tending toward flowery and self-indulgent. The story is compelling, although the pacing of the first act is a bit strained, alternating between the present and the past ungracefully. In the second act the two timelines are mostly reconciled and the rest of the book remains in the present except for memories.
The story centers around Anne Hathaway and her husband William Shakespeare, although Shakespeare is not once mentioned by name and Anne is referred to as Agnes, which appears to have been her real name, though with an archaic pronunciation similar to "Anne". At first I thought these moves were a bit too coy on the part of the author, but were probably the right choice.
Very little is recorded in history about "Anne". In Hamnet, Agnes (who was 8 years older than William) is born to a solid, successful farmer and his wife, a somewhat mysterious woman who lived in the woods near his farm. Agnes's mother dies in childbirth with her younger brother. In due course, eccentric Agnes acquires a terrible stepmother and her father dies, leaving her in the stepmother's resentful care.
Similarly, William is growing up under the brutal rule of his father, a somewhat successful craftsman who has fallen from higher standing in the town due to his temper and shady dealings. His father hates the scholarly William, who he sees as useless and lazy. Agnes and William are drawn to each other, and force their own marriage in an attempt to escape their unhappy home lives. They have an elder daughter (the cause of their marriage) and a pair of twins, Judith and Hamnet.
Although they start their own family and are happy together, they are not successful in breaking the pull and pressure of William's father. This pressure eventually leads William to escape to London, where he discovers the theatre and, of course, his true calling. He spends most of each year in London with the theatre company, stranding Agnes in Stratford to raise the children in her in-laws' house. He returns only every few months and leaves as soon as he can.
The main story is Hamnet's sickness and death at age 11 during a bout of bubonic plague, and the aftermath's terrible effect on the family. William's response is to double down on his attempt to physically escape his emotions. Agnes, on the other hand, seems to be composed of nothing but emotions. Each deals with the situation in their own way, but Agnes lacks such an outlet for her emotions and is consumed by them.
My dissatisfaction with the book stems from the character of Agnes. Not her fierce emotionality; that's understandable. As the daughter of the mysterious woman from the woods, Agnes grew up as a noncomformist, loving nature, learning herbology, keeping a falcon. But she also has a strange ability - by touching a person in a certain way, she believes she can see their future; she also is given to experiencing other premonitions as a physical sensation or vision.
And to me, this weird quasi-psychic thing irreparably breaks the genuine humanity of the tragic story. It reminds me of Stevie Nicks and her flighty, faux-faerie persona, which I have no patience for. It might have been more successful if the author had leaned into it and actually made it a fantasy story. But as is, it detracts from the real emotional truth.
