(Subdue) Hamnet - Maggie O'Farrell - 5 stars

[Booknblues]

I've had Hamnet on my TBR for sometime now and have never been able to move it to the top rung. It was even replaced by The Marriage Portrait, which I read and loved. Well, I have finally managed to move it to the top rung and read it and I'm so glad I did.

What struck me first was like The Marriage Portrait, Hamnet has an almost fairy tale-like quality. Both Agnes, Shakespeare's wife in Hamnet and Lucrezia from The Marriage Portrait have a forest sprite personality. In a description of Agnes:

She grows up feeling wrong, out of place, too dark, too tall, too unruly, too opinionated, too silent, too strange. She grows up with the awareness that she is merely tolerated, an irritant, useless, that she does not deserve love, that she will need to change herself substantially, crush herself down if she is to be married. She grows up, too, with the memory of what it meant to be properly loved, for what you are, not what you ought to be.

The quality of O'Farrell's writing with her ability to seemingly sneak behind a character and stealthily observe the thoughts and movements also lends itself to the fairy-tale like quality.

But despite this quality this is a deeply moving book which I loved.

[Theresa]

At last! I just knew you would love it. Your review is delightful.

[Booknblues]

Theresa wrote: "At last! I just knew you would love it. Your review is delightful."

I'm really beginning to appreciate her writing.

I always appreciate the forest sprite who is prescient about things. I think of Corrag and Confessions of a Pagan Nun.

[Book Concierge]

I also loved this book!

[Joy D]

I loved it too!

[Jen K]

So glad that you enjoyed. I really appreciate it too. Great review!

[Robin P]

My objection was that the author told us over and over about the "forest sprite" aspect of the character. I must be getting impatient in my old(er) age as I am finding many books repetitive and overstuffed. I also wish this author had a little bit of suspense in the story, instead of telling us about a marriage, death, etc., then going back to lead up to it.

The ending of the book was very good. Also the whole concept of how difficult it can be to live with a "genius".

[Booknblues]

Robin P wrote: "My objection was that the author told us over and over about the "forest sprite" aspect of the character. I must be getting impatient in my old(er) age as I am finding many books repetitive and ove..."

I can understand your objection and I feel that way with some books. I do love the whole forest sprite aspect so that didn't bother me.