Dear friends. The hype around the film Hamnet inspired me to read the book and then go to the cinema. I share my thoughts on this, and also my reviews for January.
I bought those marked with an asterisk. The rest were digital advance copies from NetGalley, provided free in return for an honest review.
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell (4.5 out of 5 stars)*
I was keen to read this after seeing the blurb and previews for the new film. I haven't read much by Maggie O'Farrell, in spite of trying a few times. I don't know why, but I've struggled to get into her books.
However this time I was instantly pulled into the story. It's essentially a simple story of grief, without much plot. William Shakespeare and his fey, carefree wife live a stifled existence with his parents. His father is a glover and despises his eldest son for being a dreamer. William and Agnes have 3 children, which puzzles her as a vision told her she would have two at her death bed.
O'Farrell creates a real sense of the family and the way they live. The crowded home they share with Shakespeare's parents, juxtaposed with the luminous freedoms of Agnes, his wife, thought to have supernatural powers. One yearns for the bucolic countryside, bees buzzing, blue skies and nature fully intact and not destroyed by modern life.
Agnes agrees that her husband should move to London for his writing. We don't know much about this part of his life. You wouldn't know from the book, or the film, that he turned out to be the greatest playwright of all time. He's rather muted and withdrawn, with all the spotlight on his wife.
After the death of one of the children, Shakespeare seems unable to deal with grief and disappears to London.
Agnes is hardly in contact with him and knows nothing about his play Hamlet. She's angry and motivated enough to make the long trip to London to see it. She gains a new understanding of her distant husband.
I found the book more haunting and memorable than the film, which was a little disappointing. The film seemed to skate over the difficulties Shakespeare had with his father, and indeed his father's poor reputation in Stratford, after having been a pillar of society.
The film doesn't include the 11 year old Hamnet's frantic attempts to find help when his twin sister is taken ill. This struggle commands quite a lot of the first chapter, and left me anxious and wondering where all the adults were. It seemed neglectful that no-one had seen the twins since the previous afternoon.
Paul Mescal didn't have much to work with, but I liked the restrained anguish he brought to his grief. Jessie Buckley's performance is quite OTT, although I'm sure she'll collect all the gongs going.
After all the hype about the film, and Buckley, I expected it to be a real blubfest. But at the local Odeon's 1.40pm performance, the audience was Boomers and of course we're a stoic lot. I heard a tiny amount of sniffing but nothing like the outpouring that was rumoured to have happened at previews.
I shed a tear briefly. It was nothing like when I attended The Passion of the Christ in the early 2000s. The audience was sobbing, and the film haunted me for days. I doubt if it would make a ripple now.
Have you seen the film, read the book or both? What are your views? Do tell in the comments.
Now for the rest of what I've been reading.
Everyone is Still Alive* by Cathy Retzenbrink, (3.5 out of 5 stars)
General Fiction (Adult), Literary Fiction
Juliet and her family have moved into her late mother's house. Her husband, a writer, gets friendly with several of the neighbours, who also have young children. He decides his next book will be about some of the females. Juliet has reservations about him "using" the women to try to get over his writer's block. Over the next few months two marriages will be strained to breaking point.
I quite enjoyed it, although I'm probably not the target demographic. I get a bit tired of the "frazzled woman with young children" trope. She is either the breadwinner who also finds herself doing most of the chores, or a stay-at-home mother who misses her career. Either way she can't win, the husband is inevitably blamed for everything, and not much changes.
Anatomy of an Alibi by Ashley Elston (4 out of 5 stars)
General Fiction (Adult), Mystery/Thrillers
A pacey read that pulls you in from the start. Members of a wealthy and influential family have been keeping a secret which protected them but resulted in the imprisonment of an innocent man.
Their tentacles of influence spread wide. Not everyone in the family is actually aware of the truth.
Meanwhile a woman who was a victim of the original crime has started campaigning for a new investigation - and she finds herself caught up in the family's machinations. Twisty and full of red herrings in good crime thriller tradition.
Welcome to the Neighbourhood by Jane Fallon (3.5 out of 5 stars)
General Fiction (Adult), Mystery/Thrillers, Women's Fiction
I've read all of Jane Fallon's books and normally they're top notch. This one includes the revenge aspect, for which she's renowned, but is more comedic than most of her other books. It's sharply observed with a couple of stand-out characters (Grace, Lottie) but the plot lacks credibility. I found it hard to accept the sugary ending after the damage one of the characters had caused. 3.5 stars as it kept me reading and is an enjoyable read, just not up to Fallon's usual high standard.
Tribe by Gary Shapero (4 out of 5 stars)
Literary Fiction / Sci-Fi and Fantasy
The first in a trilogy by debut author Gary Shapero, this dystopian novel examines if it is nature or nurture that governs the way we live.
Set in the future, 85 years from now, the world has been devastated by The Event. A type of ebola has killed virtually everyone except a few thousand people living on a beautiful Mediterranean island of Bethel. Prior to that, there were many terrorist outrages around the world, including the destruction of a bridge linking Bethel to the mainland.
The survivors' new government decrees that the only hope for mankind is homogenisation. They argue that suspicion and fear of other races is dictated by our genes. The only way for us to live in harmony is to ensure that breeding is based on certain principles. We need to become as mixed race as possible. Those who disagree will not be classed as "official" citizens and denied various privileges.
Tribe explores this theory and its outcome over several decades. The spotlight is on a family which has provided political figureheads on both sides of the debate.
Compelling and at times chilling, this is a story that has strong resonance now.
Non-Fiction
The Almanac: A Seasonal Guide to 2026
Conservation / Astronomy & Cosmology references
These beautiful little books have become a must-have for me. If you want to reconnect with the seasons and the outdoors, plus the sun and moon's cycles, tide times and much more, it's a delightful resource. Includes seasonal recipes too for feasts and saints days.
The Anti-Inflammatory 30 Day Reset by Sophie Richards
Cookery, Food/Diet
I gave this 4 out of 5 stars. Read my review.
More on my Reviews
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