A masterful imagining of how life was for Agnes Hathaway in the late 1500’s. Throughout this tale we follow Agnes from her first meetings with ‘the Latin tutor’, to courtship and marriage, setting up house and parenthood and finally the ravages of grief. All other characters in the novel are named except for ‘the Latin tutor’ who becomes her husband and I find that interesting. I smiled, I cried and in the end I enjoyed this story of what could have been. 5 stars.

The first book in a long while that I’ve had to put down and take a break from (to let my sobs subside and piece myself back together). This was my first Maggie O’Farrell experience and what an outstanding writer she is. I am frequently saying ‘historical fiction isn’t my thing’ but if all historical fiction was written like this, I would certainly eat my words. I don’t have enough synonyms for ‘beautiful’ and ‘heartbreaking’ to suffice. I was utterly bereft upon finishing.

I really enjoyed reading this book, the author’s style made it very gripping. The first half of the book with Agnes and the tutor (Shakespeare’s not named) was beautifully written. You get a real idea of the twins and the families early life. When you get to Hamnet’s illness and death the whole pitch of the novel changes. It becomes a real emotional and tragic read. I felt drained and the plight of Agnes brought tears to my eyes. I was concerned how the book would end, would Agnes and Shakespeare get over and cope with Hamnet’s death. All in all a great book and it has spurred me to read some of the modern retelling of Shakespeare’s plays series such as Jeanette Winterson’s The Gap ofTime.

From the first page I was entranced by this book. The pacing, the language, the narrative are all superbly balanced and I wept at the final chapters.

This is the best book I’ve read in a long time (since Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall series). So much so, I cannot wait to read it again. The characters are so beautifully evoked, and the historical setting feels very real, so your are transported to, and absorbed by a different time. It is utterly heart-breaking but so beautiful. I cannot wait to read more Maggie O’Farrell novels. If you read one book this year then let this be it!