I'm so glad I made this my first read of 2021. I had a good feeling about it, I could tell I was going to love it - and I was right!

Hamnet tells the story of a boy and his twin, and the morning his twin sister, the other half of him, falls sick. He looks for his mother, his sister, his grandparents, and the readers are thrown back into the past to his father's youth and how his parents met. Hamnet had a brief life, but through grief for his son, came one of the world's most well-known and remarkable plays about a father-son relationship, and grief for a loved one- Hamlet.

The writing in this is just stunning. There were so many lovely descriptions, and turns of phrases and nothing too complicated or convoluted. Simple descriptions made beautiful - the telling of a woman slightly more in tune with nature and people than others, and who can gain a sense of what's going to happen without the power to stop the turn of events. I loved Agnes, who was the main character in the story for me - a woman misunderstood but a woman gentle, and clever, and full of love to give her family and those in need. Someone in tune with nature and the healing power of nature.

I love that the husband and father is never named yet we obviously know who he is. Just a really nice touch to the story. The careful balance between looking after family through presence, while also trying to fulfil dreams elsewhere and how sometimes this can have disastrous affects on a family. Agnes's tough decisions in letting him go, and sacrificing some of her own happiness (which is always a woman's lot, isn't it?).

There was a chapter in this book as well about a boy, a monkey and a flea - and how a glass maker in Venice combined everything to bring this story together. And it was magnificent. Slightly scary, considering the global climate/pandemic as well but brilliant.

The last few pages of this were stunning. And in a way parts of this book are such an exploration how grief is met and understood by different people - particularly genders - often women meet it head on, can scream and wail and keen, and go to bed for days, yet men - even in today's society - are often expected to get on with it, be a man , chin up. The inner turmoil of grief decaying the husband from the inside out, spilled out onto the page and creating a play where he could bring his son to life, mourn him, and not only remember him but have him be remembered by others.

Beautiful.