POD: Book Clubs

Hamnet

Tender and moving

Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet is a fictionalised account of the short life of Shakespeare’s 11 year old son. Winner of the 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction, the chair of judges Martha Lane Fox said O’Farrell’s novel was a “truly great” work of fiction and an “exceptional winner”.

England, 1580: The Black Death creeps across the land, an ever-present threat, infecting the healthy, the sick, the old and the young, alike. A luminous portrait of a marriage, a shattering evocation of a family ravaged by grief and loss, and a tender and unforgettable re-imagining of a boy whose life has been all but forgotten, and whose name was given to one of the most celebrated plays of all time, Hamnet is mesmerizing, seductive, impossible to put down.

Part of our ‘Beyond the Book’ Series View

PODCASTS

Maggie O’Farrell on her new novel, Hamnet

(12 mins )

Mariella Frostrop talks to Maggie O’Farrell about her book, how she was emotionally affected by writing about Hamnet’s death and her take on the importance of historical fiction. First 12 mins of the podcast.

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Maggie O’Farrell on “Hamnet”

(35 mins)

Longer interview. Maggie O’Farrell talks about how the idea for “Hamnet” came to her, the way she imagines Shakespeare and his family, and what she learned in the process of writing the book. She is interviewed by Barbara Bogaev for Shakespeare Unlimited.

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Hamnet

(13 mins )

The Hamlet Podcast looks at the influence of Hamnet Shakespeare (1585-1596). We look at how his death may have influenced his father’s work, as well as a variety of more recent creators.

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Book Review. Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

(21 mins )

Anna and Annie of Books On The Go, review their book of the week Hamnet. Start at 7mins 30secs.

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VIDEOS

Maggie O’Farrell at Damian Barr’s Literary Salon

(29 mins)

Watch Maggie give her first ever reading from Hamnet and her conversation with Damian Barr.

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Review: Hamnet

(10 mins)

Enthusiastic review of the book from Books and Bao. A modern masterpiece that retells and reframes the story of Shakespeare’s wife, Agnes, and their children with consideration and grace. A beautiful tragedy unlike anything else.

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ARTICLES

Guardian review of Hamnet

O’Farrell explores the lives of the playwright’s family and the death of his only son. She has placed the bit players of the Shakespeare story centre stage, while the dramatist himself is never even named. This is primarily a portrait of a woman and her three children.

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Irish Times Review

Historical novel connects death of a son with the birth of Hamlet Book. Maggie O’Farrell recreates Shakespeare’s family and that of Elizabethan England by John Self.

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Maggie O’Farrell wins Women’s prize for fiction with ‘exceptional’ Hamnet

Hamnet beat novels including the third in Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy, The Mirror and the Light, and Bernardine Evaristo’s Booker prize-winning Girl, Woman, Other, to win the £30,000 award. Alison Flood for the Guardian.

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Hamnet Book Club Questions

Sally Flint’s book discussion questions on Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet.

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Authors Website Maggie O’Farrell

Hamnet: a play for Shakespeare’s forgotten son

King John, Constance’s Grief

All is True film

The Vanishing Half

Family and identity

From The New York Times-bestselling author of The Mothers, a stunning new novel about twin sisters, inseparable as children, who ultimately choose to live in two very different worlds, one black and one white. Weaving together multiple strands and generations of this family, Brit Bennett produces a riveting, emotional family story and a brilliant exploration of the American history of passing. Looking well beyond issues of race, The Vanishing Half considers the lasting influence of the past, as it shapes decisions, desires and expectations, and explores the multiple reasons why people sometimes feel pulled to live as something other than their origins.

Part of our ‘Beyond the Book’ Series. View

Bad Blood

Unbelievable but true

Rigorously reported and fearlessly written by prize-winning journalist John Carryrou. Bad Blood is a fast paced and gripping story of the biggest corporate fraud since Enron. A tale of ambition and hubris, set amid the bold promises of Silicon Valley.

In 2014, Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the next Steve Jobs. A brilliant Stanford dropout whose start-up promised to revolutionize the medical industry with its breakthrough device that performed the whole range of laboratory tests from a single drop of blood. Backed by high profile investors, Theranos was valued at more than $9 billion. There was just one problem, the technology didn’t work.

After the book came the podcast series The Drop Out, followed by the documentary ‘The Inventor’ and now a film staring Jennifer Lawrence is in the works. It’s a story that we just can’t get enough of!

Part of our ‘Beyond the Book’ Series. View

Midnight Express

Gripping prison epic

Midnight Express is the true story of Billy Hayes, an American college student who was caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey in 1970 and thrown into prison. First released as a book in 1977, it quickly became a worldwide best-seller. The story was made into a movie in 1978, directed by Alan Parker, produced by David Puttnam and written by Oliver Stone. It went on to win two Oscars in 1979 for Best Screenplay and Best Original Score.

In more recent times, Billy has travelled round the world with a one man show Riding the Midnight Express, which premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2013. He has written two sequels to his original book both published in 2013: Midnight Return (Escaping Midnight Express) and The Midnight Express Letters – from a Turkish Prison, 1970 – 1975, a collection of letters written to his friends and family from prison. In the same year, the story was made in to a ballet, which was the subject of much speculation when the lead dancer, Sergei Polunin, left the show one week before opening. In 2016, the story was the subject of a documentary, Midnight Return: The Story of Billy Hayes and Turkey.

Part of our ‘Beyond the Book’ Series. View

Hamnet

Tender and moving

PODCASTS

(12 mins )

(35 mins)

Kindle Paperwhite

(13 mins )

(21 mins )

VIDEOS

(29 mins)

(10 mins)

HelloFresh meal plan offers

ARTICLES

XTRA

Authors Website Maggie O’Farrell

Hamnet: a play for Shakespeare’s forgotten son

King John, Constance’s Grief

All is True film

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