The Shakespeare connection definitely adds to the story for me. I’d like it regardless, I think, but hints of the connection - the reading between the lines - to match Hamnet with Shakespeare - watching that connection build - elevates the tale.
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When we grieve or experience something life-changing, often the first responses is to say we do not have the words to describe or explain our feelings. Perhaps in Shakespeare’s need to express his grief, and his frustration at not finding the right words, he ended up adding/creating new words that worked better for him.
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Many of these words I think would be easy to understand (sticking “un” in front of an existing word" or making a compound word, but I wonder what audiences thought about so many new words. Whenever I watch a Shakespeare play it takes me 10 or 15 minutes before I really get into the rhythm of understanding 400 year old English, but at least all those words are very familiar!
@Caraid I love the idea that he had to make up words to express his grief.
@VeryHappy I want to think the book didn’t need Shakespeare to lend it weight. But Shakespeare is Shakespeare, we’ve all encountered him in some form or other. And yet there’s something very powerful about leaving him unnamed. Such an interesting decision.
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I agree – it added another dimension that I really liked. But Shakespeare aside, the quality of the writing still made the story into something wonderful. I’m both curious and hesitant to try another O’Farrell book – looks like she always writes in the present tense and I’m not sure that would work for me a second time around. 
Whereas the rest of us lesser beings just sigh and say “There are no words!..”
Here’s are some fun lists for wordsmiths:
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Thinking some more I wonder how many of those 600 words were in use, but just not in print.
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As I mentioned before, IMO the Shakespeare connection doesn’t “make” the book, but it does add more depth. Agnes’ grief at the loss of a child is universal.
As for the 600 new words – I find it mind boggling! Perhaps some were only new to print, as @mathmom suggests, but even so, Shakespeare’s genius is on display. I’d be hard pressed to come up with 10 new words! But, no doubt today’s social media would make it easier to “spread the word” (about a new word) than back in the day.
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Hamnet is a book I would re-read. I feel like there is a lot in the novel still to be discovered. After every visit to the internet to learn a little more about Shakespeare, I would find something new in the novel. Maggie O’Farrell has slipped lots of history “morsels" into the story.
Three examples:
- Judith’s signature: Judith Quiney - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In Hamnet, there is a passage where Susanna tries diligently to teach Judith her letters, with little success: “It takes a year for Judith to reliably produce a signature; it is a squiggly initial, but upside down and curled like a pig’s tail. Eventually, Susanna gives up” (p. 278).
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In his will, Shakespeare left his wife his “second best bed,” which some historians have interpreted as an insult and others have deemed a gesture of affection (as it was likely the marital bed). When Susanna, at her father’s bidding, tries to buy furniture for the new house, her mother “refuses to give up her bed, saying it was the bed she was married in and she will not have another, so the new, grander bed is put in the room for guests” (p. 277).
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Although Shakespeare and Agnes’ home (appropriately called New Place) was demolished in 1757 (by the owner, who was unhappy with the high taxes and the tourists peering into his garden!), a sketch exists from 1737: New Place - Wikipedia
Compare to the description in Hamnet:
Bartholomew reaches out with his free hand and points to a building across the road from where they are standing. It is an enormous place, the biggest in town, with a wide central doorway, three storeys stacked on top of each other, and arranged on a corner, so that the front of it faces them, the side stretching away from them.
The more I learned about Shakespeare’s life (and I knew so little!), the more rewarding it was to read the book.
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Here is a list of 422 words coined by Shakespeare: The 420 Words That Shakespeare Invented - The LitCharts Blog
And here are 10 put to good use:
I have enjoyed our satisfying discussion, and that’s the unvarnished truth! It’s time for you well-bred, well-behaved, well-educated, and well-read gentlefolk to embrace the time-honored tradition of choosing our next selection from the countless books available!
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I just started reading The Doctors Blackwell (nonfic) about the Blackwell sisters, Elizabeth and Emily. The two women were the first female MDs in the country. It’s very good. I am a real fan of nonfiction and can suggest others if people are interested.
I recently finished Dear Edward – somewhat lighter fare than our usual, but a worthwhile book that starts with a tragedy but has a hopeful ending.
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I approached the next selection with serious thought. In other words, I looked back at our choices over the past year. Interestingly, I found a good mix of male and female authors. We read mysteries, classics, humor, a romance, a thriller. We also read a fair mix of books written long ago and ones written recently. So yay for us.
So … probably last call for This Tender Land (with Dispatches from Pluto only if you choose.) The title crept up more than once on the previous lists.
My suggestions: Sharks in the Time of Saviors and Deacon King Kong.
I’m also going to suggest (just finished reading it) We Begin at the End. Just published in March 2021 and my library has a waitlist, so I don’t know if this is a serious suggestion or not (and it doesn’t have the diversity of author and/or location of my other two suggestions.) However, you guys, it is good - a book I kept finding time to read. I can’t leave this post without mentioning it.
Oh … Mary mentioned True Grit earlier. Since I consider it a favorite book, thumbs up for the suggestion. Pair it with Shane and you have the young girl and the young boy in classic westerns.
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I have Dear Edward on my shelf (unread), so would be happy to put that on the list. I have several other Book of the Month books that I haven’t read yet: A Woman is No Man, Outlawed, This Tender Land, The Wife Upstairs…Maybe there are other BOTM-ers like me, who can’t keep up.
I would love that combo. True Grit and Shane are classics, so easily obtained; they are both short works, so not a lot of time to commit; and they are both terrific, well-written stories.
All your suggestions sound good! Will draw up a list.
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Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano
This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn
Deacon King Kong by James McBride
We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker
The Doctors Blackwell (non-fiction) by Janice P. Nimura
Duet: True Grit by Charles Portis and Shane by Jack Shaefer
I’d be happy with any of the above!
Sharks in the Time of Saviors would take us to a place / ethnicity we haven’t been before: “Washburn’s standout debut provides a vivid portrait of Hawaiian identity, mythology, and diaspora. . . a unique and spirited depiction of the 50th state and its children.”
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This is a great list! I’d be happy with any of them. I was going to say that Westerns aren’t my favorite genre, but then I remembered that it was this group that introduced me to Lonesome Dove, and particularly when Larry McMurtry recently died, I was glad that I had read it. This group is good for getting me out of my comfort zone!
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Re True Grit: Don’t judge the book by its movie(s). No comparison, whatsoever.
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I’d like the Doctors Blackwell as my top choice.
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Top choice: True Grit and Shane. I looked back over what we’ve read recently in order to choose something different. As I mentioned above, I really found a diverse mix. But … lo and behold … I ran across the mention of True Grit. We haven’t read a “Western” since Lonesome Dove, which turned out to be one of our best discussions. One and all liked the book.
No vetoes. However, my suggestion of We Begin at the End may be hard to get since it was just published March 2nd.
I could be happy with The Doctors Blackwell or with Shane and True Grit. I never thought I’d say that about “westerns,” but both of those look interesting.
As for the other suggestions, I don’t know anything about them and therefore have no opinion.
ETA: Except for Dear Edward, which I read and really enjoyed.
My top three:
Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano
This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
Duet: True Grit by Charles Portis and Shane by Jack Shaefer
As always I’m willing to read almost anything. I don’t have any strong opinions, but these days find it a bit easier to “get lost” in fiction.
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I have no particular preference, but I would like to avoid books where death and dealing with grief is a major theme. I suspect that will be difficult to achieve, though.
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