O'Farrell's 'Hamnet' is an unfortunately well timed story for the current pandemic, exploring the impact of the boy's illness and death on his family. Photo: Handout
Maggie O'Farrell's Hamnet, an imagined take on the death of Shakespeare's son from the bubonic plague, has won the US National Book Critics Circle prize for fiction.
Hamnet, an unfortunately well timed story for the current pandemic, explores the impact of the boy's illness and death on his family. He was Shakespeare's only son, and scholars have long speculated about his influence - if any - on Hamlet, which Shakespeare worked on in the years following Hamnet's death.
