In Maggie O’Farrell’s haunting novel Hamnet, Shakespeare’s wife Agnes (a.k.a. Anne) turns inwards lost in grief after the death of her eleven-year-old son Hamnet. Agnes’ excruciatingly detailed mourning mirrors my own and provides solace. Golden-haired children evoke Hamnet, and some days Agnes doesn’t leave the house. Although my daughter Alix passed away at age twenty-five, I can’t bear to see blonde-haired little girls who remind me of Alix innocent and full of promise; unaware of the upcoming devastation from the onset of her bipolar disorder at age eighteen.
ENDING SPOILER ALERT: Agnes obtains healing when her husband William writes the play Hamlet to honor and resurrect their son Hamnet. My husband is incapable of creating a literary masterpiece, but he is my rock throughout Alix’s long battle with bipolar disorder and her ultimate untimely death.
Gosh Julie, such resonance for me in this post. I lost my son Dom to suicide…and now wonder if it was (also) to bipolar 2. Hamnet moved me (and touched on my own loss) too. Sending love 🤗
Thanks for subscribing to Mourning Mom Time Travels! I think you'll really like Hamnet and find it moving. Everyone in my book club gave it two thumbs up.