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Quick answer: If you loved Hamnet, try The Marriage Portrait, The Hand That First Held Mine, Year of Wonders, Will in the World, Shakespeare's Wife and Nothing Like the Sun. Each one offers rich historical fiction, deep grief or a new way into a story you thought you knew.
Maggie O'Farrell's Women's Prize winner imagines the life of Agnes, the wife of William Shakespeare, and the death of their eleven-year-old son Hamnet in 1596. O'Farrell focuses on the family, on Agnes's herbs and on a plague that travels across Europe. The playwright, never named, is mostly at a distance. Readers love its beautiful language and its heartbreaking portrait of grief. These books share its detail, its tenderness and its history.
Table of Contents
Quick Picks at a Glance
| Book | Author | Setting | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Marriage Portrait | Maggie O'Farrell | Renaissance Italy | readers who want more O'Farrell |
| The Hand That First Held Mine | Maggie O'Farrell | London | readers who like linked lives |
| Year of Wonders | Geraldine Brooks | Plague England | readers who want plague fiction |
| Will in the World | Stephen Greenblatt | Elizabethan England | readers who want the real Shakespeare |
| Shakespeare's Wife | Germaine Greer | Elizabethan England | readers who want Anne Hathaway's real history |
| Nothing Like the Sun | Anthony Burgess | Elizabethan England | readers who like inventive language |
| Wolf Hall | Hilary Mantel | Tudor England | readers who want top historical fiction |
| Station Eleven | Emily St. John Mandel | Future | readers who love Shakespeare after a pandemic |
| Hag-Seed | Margaret Atwood | Canada | readers who like modern Shakespeare |
| Burial Rites | Hannah Kent | Iceland | readers who like grief and history |
| The Essex Serpent | Sarah Perry | Victorian England | readers who like English nature writing |
| The Miniaturist | Jessie Burton | 17th-century Amsterdam | readers who like household mysteries |
| Girl with a Pearl Earring | Tracy Chevalier | 17th-century Delft | readers who love quiet prose |
| The Song of Achilles | Madeline Miller | Ancient Greece | readers who want a great tragic love |
| Circe | Madeline Miller | Ancient Greece | readers who like overlooked women |
1. The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell
A young duchess in 16th-century Italy fears her husband wants her dead.
Best for: readers who want more O'Farrell.
2. The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell
Two women in different eras are connected by a hidden secret.
Best for: readers who like linked lives.
3. Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
A young widow lives through the plague in a quarantined English village.
Best for: readers who want plague fiction.
4. Will in the World by Stephen Greenblatt
A leading scholar imagines how Shakespeare became a playwright.
Best for: readers who want the real Shakespeare.
5. Shakespeare's Wife by Germaine Greer
Greer challenges old ideas about the woman Shakespeare married.
Best for: readers who want Anne Hathaway's real history.
6. Nothing Like the Sun by Anthony Burgess
A bold novel imagines Shakespeare's love life.
Best for: readers who like inventive language.
7. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Thomas Cromwell rises in the court of Henry VIII.
Best for: readers who want top historical fiction.
8. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
A troupe of actors performs Shakespeare after a flu destroys civilization.
Best for: readers who love Shakespeare after a pandemic.
9. Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood
A retelling of The Tempest set inside a prison drama program.
Best for: readers who like modern Shakespeare.
10. Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
A condemned woman awaits her execution on a farm in 1820s Iceland.
Best for: readers who like grief and history.
11. The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
A widowed naturalist investigates rumors of a sea monster in Essex.
Best for: readers who like English nature writing.
12. The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
A young bride receives a dollhouse with eerily accurate figures.
Best for: readers who like household mysteries.
13. Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
A maid becomes the subject of a painting by Vermeer.
Best for: readers who love quiet prose.
14. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
The story of Achilles told by his devoted companion Patroclus.
Best for: readers who want a great tragic love.
15. Circe by Madeline Miller
A witch from Greek myth finds her own power.
Best for: readers who like overlooked women.
How to Choose
Go to The Marriage Portrait next if you want O'Farrell's prose, and it has a similarly strong heroine trapped by her era. If the plague mattered most, Year of Wonders and, in a modern way, Station Eleven are compelling reads. For readers curious about the real history, Will in the World and Shakespeare's Wife are thorough and readable. If you want rich historical settings with quiet women at the center, Girl with a Pearl Earring and The Miniaturist are lovely. The Song of Achilles has the same power to break your heart, while Wolf Hall is the best next read for those who want dense and rewarding English history.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Hamnet about?
The novel imagines the marriage of Agnes and William Shakespeare and the death of their son Hamnet.
Was Hamnet a real person?
Yes. Shakespeare's son Hamnet died in 1596 at age eleven, though little more is known about him.
Why is she called Agnes and not Anne?
Agnes is the name used in her father's will, and O'Farrell chose it for the novel.
Did Hamnet win an award?
Yes. It won the 2020 Women's Prize for Fiction.
Is there a movie of Hamnet?
Yes. Chloé Zhao directed a film adaptation with Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal.