R E K. (bigstone) - , reviewed on + 1438 more book reviews
This is a story about a man and a woman who lost their son. That man is William Shakespeare and his wife is Anne or Agnes called Agnest by her father, Richard Hathaway. In his will he refers to her as Agnes.
Shakespeare was a penniless Latin tutor when he fell in love with Agnes. She roamed the family land with a falcon on a glove. People viewed her as a healer who related more to the natural world than to people. They marry and settle on Henley Street in Stratford-upon- Avon. An intensely protective mother to their three children, Susanna and twins Hamnet and Judith, she is the center of her husband's life. Seeking work in London, he discovers a calling to the theater. When all becomes more comfortable, their eleven-year-old son dies the summer of 1596. While it was not uncommon for a child to die during these times it is around this event that the author constructs a moving story that touches the heart.
Taking the few facts she could discover, the author weaves a tale about a family dealing with tragedy, grief and separation. Shakespeare frequently left his family to pursue his stage career. Moving the story between Agnes and Will, she imagines how each might have felt when they are apart and when Hamnet dies. The main characters are the family members and we glimpse how the daughters may have felt too. Imagine losing an only son or daughter if you can. Then read how one family might react and cope while struggling to go on with life after such a devastating loss. I marvel at the empathy and intensity of the descriptions of that life. It is some years later that Shakespeare wrote the play, Hamlet, that the author surmises adjusts the event to what the public would expect and accept. The reader hopes that the startling ending brought some understanding between the grieving parents.
Shakespeare was a penniless Latin tutor when he fell in love with Agnes. She roamed the family land with a falcon on a glove. People viewed her as a healer who related more to the natural world than to people. They marry and settle on Henley Street in Stratford-upon- Avon. An intensely protective mother to their three children, Susanna and twins Hamnet and Judith, she is the center of her husband's life. Seeking work in London, he discovers a calling to the theater. When all becomes more comfortable, their eleven-year-old son dies the summer of 1596. While it was not uncommon for a child to die during these times it is around this event that the author constructs a moving story that touches the heart.
Taking the few facts she could discover, the author weaves a tale about a family dealing with tragedy, grief and separation. Shakespeare frequently left his family to pursue his stage career. Moving the story between Agnes and Will, she imagines how each might have felt when they are apart and when Hamnet dies. The main characters are the family members and we glimpse how the daughters may have felt too. Imagine losing an only son or daughter if you can. Then read how one family might react and cope while struggling to go on with life after such a devastating loss. I marvel at the empathy and intensity of the descriptions of that life. It is some years later that Shakespeare wrote the play, Hamlet, that the author surmises adjusts the event to what the public would expect and accept. The reader hopes that the startling ending brought some understanding between the grieving parents.
