Hi Substackers! I’m so excited to be back in the new year. This winter has been a quiet one, but I can feel my energy reserves improving with each millisecond of additional daylight.
If I had to pick a book that captured the whole COVID mood, I’d choose Maggie O’Farrell’s portrayal of Shakespeare’s family in her 2020 book Hamnet. The heroine is actually Shakespeare’s wife, referred to as Agnes (you may know her better as Anne Hathaway). O’Farrell, it turns out, knows how to latch onto a physical detail, say, the rack used for drying apples in a dusty barn, magnify it at high power, and convince you that matters of spiritual significance may have hung on that very item, which I’m assuming she saw in person at various Shakespeare historical sites. Agnes herself is an herbalist, falconer, and matriarch of epic proportions, and though I doubted her divinity for about five minutes, O’Farrell convinced me she was special after a few pages.
My habit is usually to give novels away, but this one is staying on the shelf for a re-read. I’ve been streaming Royal Shakespeare Company on MarqueeTV for a week or two thanks to Hamnet’s vividness. I’ve only just begun to sample their work, but I can vouch for David Tennant in Richard II and in Christopher Eccleston Macbeth. (Is it weird that I find Christopher and David attractive? What does that say about me?)
I’m interested to hear what you’re consuming and reading, culture-wise!
Look for more videos soon!
xo
Jess
Hiya Jess! I chanced upon your blog and was scrolling through your posts and found this! Just wanted to say I'm reading Hamnet now (84% done) and it's so so good!
Like you, I was sceptical about Agnes as a character for the first few pages but now I love her. And Hamnet's death was one of the most devastating things I've read. Currently writing a piece about 3 scenes from the book that impacted me (which is so ugh because I have to reread the saddest moments).
Anyway, you've got a new subscriber! xx