Anne and William Shakespeare’s son Hamnet died in 1596, when he was 11 years old. We don’t know too much more about him. But novelist Maggie O’Farrell’s new book "Hamnet" delves into his story and comes away with a lyrical and moving portrait of a family’s grief. The novel is focused not so much on William Shakespeare—in fact, O’Farrell never actually mentions his name in the book—as it is on his family back in Stratford, and how they cope with Hamnet’s tragic death. On this episode, we talk to Maggie O’Farrell about how the idea for "Hamnet" came to her, the way she imagines Shakespeare and his family, and what she learned in the process of writing the book. She is interviewed by Barbara Bogaev.

Maggie O'Farrell is the author of eight novels: "After You'd Gone"; "My Lover's Lover"; "The Distance Between Us"; "The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox"; "The Hand That First Held Mine; Instructions for a Heatwave"; and "This Must Be the Place." Her latest, "Hamnet," was published in the US by Knopf in 2020. It has been short listed for the 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction.

From the Folger’s Shakespeare Unlimited podcast. Published August 4, 2020. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This podcast episode, “O My Son, My Son!” was produced by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster. Ben Lauer is the web producer. We had technical help from Andrew Feliciano and Evan Marquart at Voice Trax West in Studio City, California.