The Book Review Podcast — Book Club: Let’s Talk About ‘Hamnet’ (November 28, 2025)

Host: M.J. Franklin (Editor, NYT Book Review)
Guests: Jennifer Harlan (Book Review Editor), Sarah Lyall (Writer at large), Leah Greenblatt (Book Review Editor)
Focus: Maggie O’Farrell’s novel Hamnet—its characters, structure, themes of grief, historical context, and recent film adaptation.

Episode Overview

This episode of the NYT Book Review Podcast dives into Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet, prompted by its 2025 film adaptation directed by Chloé Zhao. The panel revisits the celebrated 2020 novel—a historical fiction imagining the life and loss in William Shakespeare’s family, focusing on his son Hamnet and wife Agnes (Anne Hathaway). The discussion covers the novel’s treatment of grief, O’Farrell’s storytelling choices, historical resonances, and the new film interpretation.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Set-up and Summary of Hamnet

• Plot: Historical fiction centered on Shakespeare’s family—wife Agnes (a naturalist and herbalist), daughters Susanna and Judith, son Hamnet (Judith’s twin), and an unnamed “playwright” (Shakespeare).
• Historical Basis: Hamnet died at age 11 in 1596 (possibly of plague). Within a few years, Shakespeare wrote Hamlet—the names “Hamnet” and “Hamlet” being interchangeable at the time (05:01).
• Dual Narrative: The novel alternates between Hamnet’s final days and flashbacks to Agnes and Shakespeare’s love story, culminating in Hamnet’s death and the family’s processing of loss (05:01–06:53).
• Universal Themes: “It is a book about a real piece of history, but it’s also a book about a marriage, about parenthood, and about loss and grief—all those great universal themes.” — Jennifer Harlan (06:48)

2. Agnes/Anne Hathaway: Reclaiming a Figure from History

• O’Farrell creates a vivid portrait of Agnes, elevating her from a “historical footnote” to “the beating heart of this family and of this book” (10:43, 23:10).

• Panelists appreciate the proto-feminist reclamation: “His wife has always gotten short shrift in history, I think, and this makes her into a really fantastic character.” — Sarah Lyall (08:41)

• Discussion of her mystical qualities—intuitive, herbalist, possibly supernatural, but also deeply observant and emotionally intelligent (07:10–10:43, 23:10–24:59).

  “While she doesn’t have traditional book education and isn’t literate, she is incredibly intelligent and wise…has this emotional and medical and natural intelligence that really infuses her and the whole book.” — Jennifer Harlan (23:10)

3. Panel Reactions: How Did You Feel About the Book?

• Leah: Mixed—admired the transcendent moments, but notes the trope of mystical, “witchy” women in historical fiction and the lack of flaws in Agnes (09:28, 15:25–19:16).
• Jen: Loved it—deeply moving, absorbing, found more to appreciate with reread; connected personally as a “giant Shakespeare nerd” (10:46, 11:43).
• Sarah: Loved—especially on second reading as “a portrait of a grief…put towards something so beautiful, Shakespeare’s art. It gave me a bit of hope.” (12:44–13:20)
• MJ: “So sad the first time, so sad the second time…also so sad…with the movie. It’s just devastating. But I loved this story, I loved this book.” (11:17)

4. Processing Grief, Loss, and Family Dynamics

• Discussion of historical norms: high child mortality, but the pain remains palpable and universal. “The heartbreak that would bring to a family every time, and you just don’t even know how they managed to get through.” — Sarah Lyall (14:33)
• The book gives language to the “illogical” nature of grief, especially the loss of a child (13:20).
• Literary resonance: many characters have lost children; these experiences pervade the family and the era (14:41–15:18).

5. Themes, Symbols, and Literary Techniques

• Hamnet is rich with duality: Hamnet & Judith (twins); different models of motherhood/fatherhood; home vs. away; Hamnet & Hamlet (38:14–39:04).

• The narrative perspective is fluid—shifting among family members, accentuating both intimacy and distance (41:20–41:52).

• Notable Interlude: The “flea” interlude—zooming out to follow the origins of the plague infecting Judith and Hamnet, a “global” sweep contrasting the domestic drama (39:42–41:20).

  “All of a sudden, you’re global. You’re way zoomed out.” — Leah Greenblatt (40:39)

• O’Farrell’s prose is described as incantatory, looping, evocative; her use of descriptors in “threes” is noted (19:26–19:53).

• Emotional highlight: Hamnet’s self-sacrificing love for Judith: “He goes and lies next to her in bed and says, I’m going to trade my life for hers...so awful when you read that.” — Sarah Lyall (17:45)

6. Shakespeare’s Art and the Alchemy of Grief

• O’Farrell avoids naming Shakespeare directly; keeps him at a distance, except through the family’s perception (32:18–32:52).
• The book suggests Hamlet (and subsequent tragedies) were Shakespeare’s processing of grief for his son—“an act of alchemy by taking the loss of their son and turning it into this beautiful play…he casts Hamnet, or Hamlet, their son, as the one who survives, and himself as the ghost.” — Jen Harlan (35:17)
• Agnes as both muse and co-architect of Shakespeare’s genius—the book imagines her as one who “concocts a little trick for him to leave the house...fulfill his promise” (21:41).
• Moving final line of the novel: “Remember me?”—the ghost’s call as the eternal echo of love and loss (48:55).

7. Notable Quotes and Memorable Lines

• “Grief is so illogical. Death is a natural part of life, but when we experience it, it’s so illogical.” — M.J. Franklin (13:20)
• “The rhythm...the questioning of it, and the repetitiveness…incantatory.” — MJ Franklin, reading from O’Farrell (47:34)
• “He is dead. He is Dead. He is dead. The three words contain no sense for her. She cannot bend her mind to their meaning...” — (47:34)
• “Remember me? the ghost says. And that’s the end.” — Sarah Lyall reading the last line of the novel (48:55)

8. Film Adaptation Discussion (50:00–55:21)

• General Consensus: The film is faithful but adapts as necessary for the visual medium. Jessie Buckley (Agnes) and Paul Mescal (Shakespeare) are standouts.
• “What Jessie Buckley is able to communicate on her face…Chloé Zhao translates the feelings that you get with this book into the movie.” — MJ Franklin (51:28)
• Both book and film convey a capacious, gut-wrenching sense of sadness.
• Recommendation: Read the book first, then see the film. “It enriches the movie.” — Leah Greenblatt, Jennifer Harlan (55:21)

9. Recommended Next Reads (56:32–62:42)

• On Parental Grief:
  • Grief Is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter
  • Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
  • Fee by Alexandra Fuller (memoir on child loss)
  • Where Reasons End by Yiyun Li (memoir of losing two sons)
  • Once More We Saw Stars by Jason Greene (devastating memoir)
  • Gabriel: A Poem by Edward Hirsch (book-length elegy)
• On Family & Pairing:
  • The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
  • The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler (numbness of grief and redemption)
• On Shakespeare & Historical Context:
  • Will in the World by Stephen Greenblatt
  • The Decline and Fall of the English Freethinker by James Shapiro
  • Dark Renaissance by Stephen Greenblatt (bio of Marlowe)
• “Go read some Shakespeare...Or, even better, go find a theater near you and go see them.” — Jen Harlan (58:37)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Setup & Summary of Hamnet: 04:11–06:53
• Panel Reactions: Lightning Round: 09:13–12:44
• Discussion on Agnes (Depth and Mysticism): 07:10–10:43, 23:10–27:51
• Historical context & grief: 13:20–15:18
• Discussion of Structure, Narrative Techniques: 38:14–42:56
• 'Flea' Plague Interlude: 39:42–41:20
• Shakespearean Resonances: 31:56–36:05
• Quote on Grief (read aloud): 47:34–48:43
• Final line of the novel: 48:55
• Film Adaptation Discussion: 50:00–55:21
• Recommended Next Reads: 56:32–62:42

Notable Listener & Reader Comments

• “O’Farrell renders such a colorful, lively portrait of his [Shakespeare’s] life and family, and it felt like pure poetry.” — Tiffany from Colorado (29:42)
• “A masterclass in the use of detail to paint a picture in a novel.” — Howard from New York (29:42)
• “[O’Farrell’s] masterpiece on parental love and sorrow has helped my husband and I turn toward our grief, learning from it and allowing it to change us.” — Linda from Washington (29:42)

Tone & Language

The tone throughout the episode is warm, intelligent, and emotionally candid. The panel openly discusses their responses—sometimes scholarly, sometimes raw—with genuine respect for the novel’s emotional power and O’Farrell’s craftsmanship.

Conclusion

Hamnet deeply moved the NYT Book Review Podcast panel, sparking a multifaceted conversation about parental grief, historical imagination, writing craft, and the role of women in Shakespeare’s story. The novel is praised for breathing life and agency into Agnes while providing universal insight into the experience of loss. The new film adaptation is recommended (with the book first, if possible). For those left looking for more, the panel compiles a rich list of reading on grief, family, and Shakespeare’s world.

December Book Club Pick:
Next month’s title is What We Can Know by Ian McEwan (to be discussed December 26).

[For a full discussion and more listener comments, visit the NYT Book Review online.]