Hamnet Winner of the Women s Prize for Fiction 2020 — Maggie O Farrell

WINNER OF THE 2020 WOMEN S PRIZE FOR FICTION THE NO 1 BESTSELLER Richly sensuous something special The Sunday Times A thing of shimmering wonder David MitchellTWO EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE A LOVE THAT DRAWS THEM TOGETHER A LOSS THAT THREATENS TO TEAR THEM APART On a summer s day in 1596 a young girl in Stratford upon Avon takes to her bed with a sudden fever Her twin brother Hamnet searches everywhere for help Why is nobody at home Their mother Agnes is over a mile away in the garden where she grows medicinal herbs Their father is working in London Neither parent knows that Hamnet will not survive the week Hamnet is a novel inspired by the son of a famous playwright a boy whose life has been all but forgotten but whose name was given to one of the most celebrated plays ever written