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Books

I

n the summer of1596, William

Shakespeare received the news

every parent most dreads: one of

his children was dangerously ill. By

thetimehe’dtravelled backfrom

London toStratford-upon-Avon,Ham-

net, 11, was dead,probablyofthe

plague. Four years later, in about 1600,

Shakespeare, then in mid-life and at the

height ofhis success, wroteHamlet,des-

tined to become his most famous play.

ThenamesHamnet andHamletwere

“entirely interchangeable in Stratford

records in the late 16th and early 17th

centuries”, according toscholar Stephen

Greenblatt. But what is the connection

between the playwright’s tragic hero

and his dead child, whose name satu-

rates the playfromtitle page toclosing

speech, yet who remains resolutely

absent from its overt subject matter?

It is a question that hangs over Maggie

O’Farrell’s superbnovelHamnet.For

once, however, it’s not the famous father

whotakes centre stage,but the virtually

unknown mother: Agnes Hathaway,

more usually known as Anne. Finding

fertile soil in thisoverworkedfield is not

for the faint-hearted, but O’Farrell is

more than equal to the task.

The novelbegins in 1596, withHam-

netdiscoveringhistwin sisterJudithhas

taken sick and searchingfor someone to

helpher, not realising it ishis own illness

that will be beyond cure. From there the

narrative cuts backandforthintime

between Agnes’s childhood, early mar-

ried life, thefinal days ofHamnet,the

cataclysm of his death andaftermath.

Agnes was 26 when she married 18-

year-oldShakespeare in 158 2 .O’Farrell

brilliantly conjures her as a free spirit,a

woman with a giftfor healing, who“can

tell ifa soul is restive or hanker-

ing... what a person or a heart hides”.

The world ofStratford and itscoun-

trysideisevokedwithlyricalprecision:

its stricthierarchies, its quarrels and

power struggles, its pressing physicality,

theseasons andceaselesschores. This is

a woman’s world, seen mostly through

female eyes: those ofAgnes;her daugh-

tersJudithandSusanna;her mother-in-

law; her stepmother; her sister-in-law.

The generations are close-quartered.

Everyone exists in relation to something

or someone else, and, as Agnes slowly

accepts, herrestless husband must

escape to London or“run mad”.

One of the many pleasures of this

novelisitsportrayal ofthe countless

hours ofcare, joy and exasperation that

gointoraisingchildren.O’Farrell

almost certainly drew on experiencein

depicting tendingasick child. One of

her children has an immune disorder,

which she wrote about in2017 memoirI

AmIAmIAm:SeventeenBrusheswith

Death:“I knowalltoowell how finea

membrane separates usfrom that place,

and how easily it can be perforated.”

For Agnes, the membrane is perfo-

rated by the arrival ofthe plague in

Stratford. “Ithas come.Themoment

she hasfearedmost...Thepestilence

hasreached herhouse.It hasmadeits

Hamnet

by Maggie O’Farrell

TinderPress£20

384pages

mark around her child’s neck.”Hard not

to read those lines with particulardis-

quiet, encircled byourownpestilence.

Shakespeare’s plays are rarely refer-

enced, but they ghost the novel — as

angryfathers, touring actors, thwarted

lovers, separatedtwins. In Agnes, too,

we catchthetrace offamiliarheroines: a

young woman striding through thefor-

est dressed in boy’s garb; a motherless

girl running barefoot acrossfields; a

fairy queen working her magic with her

potions and spells. When O’Farrell has

Agnes “finger the collar” of her dead

son’s shirt and slip her hands inhis boots

tofeel“the empty shapes ofhisfeet”,we

hearConstanceinKingJohn, probably

written soon after Hamnet’s death:

“Grieffills the room up ofmy absent

child...Stuffs out his vacant garments

with hisform.”The novel invites us to

readthesepairings as expressions of

love by the playwright to his wife.

Shakespeare is another ofthe novel’s

ghosts, never named and only referred

to in relation to others: “the tutor”,

“theirfather”,“his son”,“her husband”.

He is seldom in Stratford, andfor Agnes

he mostly exists in her imagination and

memory. His life in distant London is

unknown and unknowable. After their

son’s death, she is appalled to hear that

his new play is a comedy. He is toofar

away for her to know that it is not

through indifference:“He can manage

these: histories andcomedies.He can

carry on. Only with them can heforget

whoheisandwhathashappened.They

are safe places to stow his mind.”

This is above alla novelabout the

uncertainborderbetween lifeand

death, the psychological hinterlands

that separate andbindtheliving andthe

dead, and the troublesome claims of

each on each. By narratingin the contin-

uous present tensefrom multiple per-

spectives andtime-points, O’Farrell

draws us deep into non-linear time. A

child liesdying on one page andon the

nextisstillsafein itsmother’swomb.

The description ofAgnes laying out her

son’s bodyfor burial and seeing every-

where the proof of his aliveness is an

astonishing piece ofwriting, a poised

and profoundly moving portrait ofthe

indelible imprint of love and loss.

Which brings us back to Shakespeare.

In the light ofthis novel, I saw with new

clarity the contours of the playwright’s

grief, his unpacked heart.“Iamthy

father’s spirit,”says Hamlet’s murdered

father, both haunted and haunting.

“Remember me,”he implores, to which

theliving Hamlet passionatelyreplies,

“Remember thee? / Ay, thou poor ghost,

whiles memory holds a seat / in this dis-

tracted globe.”

Maggie O’Farrell’s exquisitely

wroughtnovel provesonce again whata

fine writer she is.Hamnetisa deeplyfelt

honouring of the warp and weft of life,

the pain and joy that arepart ofhuman

experience, the many forms resilience

can take, andthe unexpecteddirections

from which comegrace and hope.

RebeccaAbramsistheauthorof‘Touching

Distance’(Picador)

Out of the wings

Shakespeare’sfamilyemergefromtheshadowsinMaggieO’Farrell’s

superbdepictionofloveandloss.ByRebeccaAbrams

Luke Waller

Hamnetdiscovershistwin

sisterhastakensick...not

realisingitishisownillness

thatwillbebeyondcure

When literary life

shifts online

Nilanjana Roy

Reading the world

A

sDelhi went into

coronaviruslockdown,

my friends divided into

twogroups. The first

rushed to the ration shops

to buy essentialfood items. The second

laid siege to the bookshops, stockingup

onHilary MantelandRebecca Solnit.

Iboughtbooksasgreedily as stashes

of chocolate. But I didn’t know then

how much I would miss an afternoon

spent rummaging throughtheIndian

history and Sanskrit manuscripts at the

venerable MotilalBanarsidass,orchats

with the owners of my favourite indie

bookstore, The Bookshop in Jorbagh.

Human contact accompanies so much

of a book-lover’s life.

Withfestivalsfrom Hay-on-Wye

to theOxford Literary Festivalnow

cancelled, authorshavehadto take

theirbooktoursonline.Forallthetalk

of “when this is over”, the publishing

andliterary community is grappling

with crippling uncertainty. Live events

are the lifeblood ofan author’s career

—helping tobuildnew audiences and

increase booksales—andtheir next

book contracts depend on these direct

connections withreaders.

January’s Jaipur Literature Festival

had more than 450,000 visitorsacross

five days. The crowds were so thick

thatwriterFrancescMiralles andI

could hardly reach the tentfor our

session. I can’t imagine a JLF without

the multitudes that give it so much life,

and I can’tfully visualise bookstore

readings where we’re cautiously spaced

apart instead of squished up against

the shelves.

Thefirstflicker ofhope that we might

yet adapt to a crowdless, contactless

reality camefrom the children’s books

community. Australian sci-fi author

Amie Kaufman kicked off the joyous

#kidlitgoesviralhashtag on Twitter,

drawing dozens ofchildren’s authors

into an easy-going online community

where they talk about just-published

books or answer questions like“What is

the most random fact you discovered

while researchingfor your novel?”

Illustrators shine online. Ihave

recommended Grace Lin, Newberry

Medal-winning author and illustrator

ofABigMooncakeforLittleStarr,to

assorted nieces and nephews for her

drawing videoson YouTube — and,

sequesteredathome withno one to

judge the results, have happily learnt to

draw a Chinese tiger and a cheerful

dragon.

In mid-MarchMo Willems, author

ofDon’tLetThePigeonDrivetheBus!

andotherbooksforchildrenstarted

drawinglessons on YouTube:“With

millions oflearners attemptingtogrow

and educate themselves in new

circumstances, Ihavedecidedto invite

everyone into my studio once a day for

the next few weeks.”

Best-sellingfantasy and children’s

authors, including NeilGaiman and

Oliver Jeffers, opened up free content

on their blogs, and Jeffers started

delightful#stayathomestorytime

readings on Instagram.

Thewiderbooks communityhad

soon rallied.InIndia, Juggernaut

Books, an independent publishing

house, kicked off#ReadInsteadand

put together a month-long online

literary festival. “Because nothingcan

helpyoulearn andgrow, stay calmand

stress-free like reading,” tweeted

publisher Chiki Sarkar.

Authors Caroline Leavitt andJenna

Blum startedA Mighty Blaze, an online

platform for authors who have had

their book tours cancelled.“Books

mightseemlike smallcandlesinavery

dark time,” they wrote. “But for

writers, they are the result ofyears of

work,dedication andlove—allwith

the dream of getting them to you.”

Online magazine Literary Hub has

openedthe VirtualBookChannel,

featuring book chats, literary drinking

shows and authors talking about lifein

socialisolation. Authors arehosting

virtual readings — you can readWar

andPeacewith Yiyun Li,or read and

discuss Albert Camus’sThePlaguewith

the Seattle-based journal The Stranger.

No one would call a terrifying

pandemic a“good thing”.HereinIndia,

the lockdown has sparked an exodus of

desperate migrant workers who can no

longer earn aliving in thebig cities. But

the response to this crisis from the

literary world has had unexpected

benefits. Book sales have increased in

China, and also in the UK, where

Waterstones has shut down stores but

has seen a 400 per cent week-on-week

rise in online sales. Online events, from

poetry slams to masterclasses,canfeel

intimate andengaging, withsome

authors drawinglarger audiences than

they might have at offline events.

Thisflurry ofactivity is encouraging.

Butitalsoremindsmeofthefirst

flourishing ofliterary blogs in the

2000s, when many startedwithabang

and left with a quiet whimper. It takes

time and support to keep podcasts,

blogs, onlinefestivals and book

discussion groups going.

Instagram readings and Zoom litfests

might be our future, even as we adjust

to the post-pandemic environment,but

itisthe source of somereassurance to

know that whether offline or online, in

lockdowns and curfews, we turn to that

timeless salve: humanstories.

A

ny adult encounteringa

gaggle ofrecently released

schoolgirlsontheirhigh

street, allwhoops, shrieks

andsassiness, wouldstrug-

gletorecognise agenerationground

downbythe patriarchyandsocial

media pressures. Butbeneaththe sur-

face lies a torrent ofissues, including

self-harm, isolation and battles with

mentalhealth— according,that is, to

novels aimedat teenagegirls. Their

messageisfight back, speak your truth,

claim your space and defy the bullies.

Manjeet Mann takes the unusualstep

ofmakingher protagonist a bully, at

least at the outset.AmberRaiis a tal-

ented athlete strugglingto define a role

for herselfbeyond the meek submissive-

nessdemandedbyheralcoholic father.

Broughtupinaviolenthousehold,she

notes that she’saproductofher environ-

ment:“Iam/myfather’s / daughter.”

Run, Rebel (Penguin £7.99)is part ofa

trendfor novels in“verse”, thoughyour

oldEnglishteacher might not recognise

it as such. It can simply be a way offilling

a book up quickly with lots ofwhite

space. That short quotation,for exam-

ple, takes upawholepage.

Mann’s use offast-moving, snapped-

offlinesmakes Amber’s story sprint

along,while typographicalgames, such

ashighlightingletterstorevealahidden

message, play intriguingly withform.

Amber’s history class is studyingthe

eight stages ofrevolution, and the list

helps stiffen Amber’s resolve to release

herbruisedmumfromthe father’siron

grip.Insodoing,shediscovers that what

had seemed an impregnable wall oftra-

ditionwasriddledwith cracks.

LouisaReid’sGloves Off(Guppy

Books £10.99),alsoanovelin verse,has

similar themes offreedom won through

physical training(boxing)and a mother

in need ofhelpfrom her daughter.Lily’s

mother Bernardette is morbidlyobese

and confined to the home, and Lily’s

deep shame attracts the attention of

misogynist schoolbullyAidan. Unlike

Amber, Lily has afather whofully sup-

ports his daughter’s new sportingactiv-

ity; they even train together.Aclimax

involvingswollen eyes andbloodyteeth

puts Lily’sfeministfightback at the

extreme end ofpositive action, and

Reid’sverse comesclose tobeingmerely

chopped-up prose. Again,however, the

pace isheadlongandcompelling.

CandaceBushnellofSexandtheCity

fame has teamed up with Katie Cotugno

for herforay into youngadultfiction,

Rules For Being a Girl (Macmillan

£7.99). Keen student Marin is perfecting

hergrades witha view to attendingan

elite college.Mr“Bex”Beckettisthe

dreamboat Englishteacher withinspi-

rationalmethods and aflatteringman-

ner: star pupilMarin,he asserts, is an

“old soul”.Anoffer to lend her a copy of

The rules of being a teenage girl

GENREROUND-UP

YOUNGADULT

By Suzi Feay

Barn 8

by Deb Olin Unferth

AndOtherStories

£9.99,300pages

B

b

A

£

Then, tragedy strikes, andJaney is

marooned in Iowa. After slogging

throughschool,shegets ajobas an egg

farm auditor, workingunder a young

woman calledClevelandwho was, she

learns,babysatbyher own mother

“hundreds oftimes”. United by this

pseudo-sisterlybond,the pairhatcha

plan tofree 1m hensfrom nearby Happy

Green Family Farm, as retributionfor

thechickens’ substandardconditions.

This scheme shakes both characters out

oftheir malaise. Activism, inBarn 8 ,isa

balm against all manner ofills; against

grieffor Janey, and against indifference

for Cleveland. A motley crew ofactivists

isropedin,at whichpoint Janey and

Cleveland’s dominantvoicesrecede.

Thechickens themselvesbecome,

joyously, a kind ofcharacter en masse.A

park wardenfinds hundreds ofthem

depositedinhergroundsandrebel-

liouslydecides tobreedthem witha

selection ofroosters. Through her, we

learn that chickens havefriendships,

desires, temperaments.

Victim to this impressive chorus is

tension.Barn 8 is a story about the

beauty oflife takingan unexpected

turn, and about how, in caringfor an

animal, we can improve our ownlot. But

theheist? Not as interestingas whatgoes

on inside the head ofa youngactivist —

orachicken, as it turns out.

Chicken run

Whentwowomenplota

schemeinIowa,itreveals

muchaboutthemselvesand

America,writesBayaSimons

I

n the short story“Pets”,from Deb

OlinUnferth’s 2017 collectionWait

TillYouSeeMeDance, a recovering

alcoholic rescues two pet turtles

fromheroverburdened sister.It

transpires, however, that“the turtles’

lives are no better than they were before

and her own lifeissignificantly worse”.

After an unsuccessful attempt toget rid

ofthem, she winds up elbow-deep in

turtle tankwater, withadate on theway.

It’sgritty,funny and tender, a story

emblematic ofUnferth’s literary talent.

Similar ideas run throughBarn 8 ,the

Americanauthor’s secondnovel.Fol-

lowingtwo youngwomen whoplot to

free battery hensfrom afarm in Iowa, it

also muses on creatures,loneliness,

motherhoodandworking-class Ameri-

can life. It too isfull ofgrit, humour and

tenderness. But whereashort story is

arguably moreforgiving, this novel suf-

fersfromalackofnarrativethrust.

Thebookbegins with15-year-old

Janey, raisedinBrooklynbyher mother.

When wefirst meet her, she’s stepping

offa bus in southern Iowa —“agray land

oftruck stops, crowded prisons, and

monocropfarming”— on a mission to

find herfather, whose identity has been

keptfrom her.He’s a disappointment, to

say the least. He works as a“something

somethingfor the USDA at a poultry

processingplant”and comes home

every day carryingabagfrom“the same

cheap IHOP [International House of

Pancakes]restaurant”.

TheCorrectionsleads to acompromising

situationfor Marin, but when all the

girlsfancy Bex, what’s her problem?

Marin’sgrowingunease aroundgen-

derimbalances leads toher writinga

column titled“Rulesfor Beinga Girl”for

theschoolnewspaper, andtoher setting

upafeminist bookgroup. It’s sad to

relate thatARoom ofOne’sOwngets

trounced,probablybecause Virginia

Wo olfis much too white and privileged

toresonate.Audre Lorde, meanwhile,

gets thethumbs-up.

Itwouldbeniceiftheloveinterest

Gray, a starlacrosse player, existedin

therealworld,but thisbook-club-join-

inghunk ofwokeness remains merelya

fantasyfigure. The novel is timely, seri-

ous andinvolving,but one perplexing

strandruns throughout: countlessrefer-

ences to sugary treatslitter thetext.

Either the authors werehungry when

they wrote this,or all that saturatedfat

andglucoseis simply their way ofsignal-

linga bondingmoment.“Don’tget so

skinny your curves disappear. Don’tget

so curvy you aren’t skinny”are two of

Marin’s sardonic“rulesfor beingagirl”

but what’s even more paradoxical is how

anybodymanages tokeep their teeth.