Historical Fiction · Free kit
Hamnet
In 1590s Stratford-upon-Avon, a forest-raised healer named Agnes builds a life with a restless Latin tutor, their daughter Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith — while he chases a future on London's stages. In the summer of 1596, plague reaches an ordinary English door. Maggie O'Farrell's Women's Prize-winning novel is a sensory portrait of marriage, motherhood, and a boy whose short life would lend its name to a play. A 2025 film followed; this kit is for the book.
“Every life has its kernel, its hub, its epicentre, from which everything flows out, to which everything returns.”
Complete free book club kit
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Plan your meeting
Hamnet Hosting Guide
A free, printable-minded plan for hosting Hamnet.
Invite hook
“A healer, a restless husband, twins in a Stratford house, and a summer when plague walks in through an ordinary door. Come talk about Hamnet — bring tissues.”
The question you’re arguing about: Can two people love the same child and still grieve so differently that it looks like leaving?
Shopping list
- □A bowl of apples (the apple store is where the marriage truly begins)
- □Honey oatcakes or shortbread with honey
- □Simple bread and cheese for a farmhouse table
- □Herbal tea: chamomile, mint, or rosemary — Agnes's physic garden in a mug
- □Apple juice or lemonade, plus sparkling water and coffee
- □A jug of greenery or bare branches (the forest that keeps calling her)
- □Small bundles of dried rosemary or lavender for the table
- □Printed bingo cards and extra tissues — this meeting gets quiet
Day-of timeline
- 0–10 minWelcome & icebreakers (keep it about the readers, not the ending)
- 10–20 minTrivia warm-up — kestrels, Hewlands, and the unnamed husband
- 20–50 minMain discussion (debate starters, then the playhouse deep dives)
- 50–65 minSpeed debate: gift vs theft, or stay vs go
- 65–75 minBingo, rate the book in one word, pick next month
Surprise touch
Set a tiny bundle of dried rosemary or lavender at each seat, tied with twine — a scrap of Agnes's physic garden. People will smell it before they talk, which is how this book works: body first, then language.
Wrap-up
- □Group photo with the herb bundles or a bowl of apples in the frame
- □Quick rating round: 1–5 stars and one word each (expect "devastating")
- □Vote on next month's book together