Hamnet & Six Degrees of Shakespeare

It’s time for #6degrees. Start off from the same place as other wonderful readers, add six connected books, and see where you end up. Inspired by the Six Degrees of Separation Meme hosted every month at Books are my Favorite and Best.

January 2021’s book is Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell, winner of the 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction. Hamnet is a fictional account of Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet, who died at the age 11 in 1596, and his wife Agnes, about whom we have heard so little.

Hamnet reminded me of all things Shakespeare; so for today’s Six Degrees, let’s travel today across works inspired by the Bard.

Miranda and Caliban by Jacquelyn Carey

Shakespeare’s Tempest is not my favorite of his plays (that honor goes to Macbeth). I felt that Miranda had not much agency in the play and was handed-off to the first man that came along. But then I read a rather cunning take on the Tempest by Carey in Miranda and Caliban. Caliban in Carey’s world is nothing so simple as the evil son of an evil spirit; there are layers to his personality and Miranda loves him, whether he “reforms” or not.

The Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler

The subject of reform comes up in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew — again, a play that I have mixed feelings about. A woman subdued in love is what Petruchio seeks, and he certainly maneuvers his way about it. Tyler (who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1989) gives this play a modern reimagining. Modern Kate is very frank and very down-on-her luck when a besotted Pyotr comes along. The dialogue/ banter is witty and humorous, but fair warning: the ending doesn’t vary much from the play’s.

Speak Easy, Speak Love by Mckelle George

A much more innovative re-imagining is George’s YA adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing. Hero Stahr decides to set up a speakeasy called Hey Nonny Nonny in 1920s Prohibition Era. Soon, we meet: the savvy Prince (the alcohol supplier), the sensitive Benedick (the rich kid who just wants to write), the sassy Beatrice (who is determined to become a doctor) and Prince’s brother John (who really is trying his best). Yes, every single character from the play gets a unique backstory.

Illyria by Elizabeth Hand

Another unique retelling is Illyria, winner of the 2008 World Fantasy Award. This is not a happy tale, revolving around Maddy and Rogan, first cousins, best friends, and twinned souls. Much like Viola and Sebastian, the twins from Twelfth Night. Both Maddy and Rogan are theatre artists, and then one day, Maddy has to choose between acting and Rogan. I won’t recommend this one for the characters but the writing in this one is truly lovely, otherworldly.

The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey

This fifth book is a mystery book– arguably, in the top ten list of most mystery fans– which begins when a convalescing detective from Scotland Yard finds something wrong in the portrait of King Richard III of England. Shakespeare’s Richard III — evil uncle– was said to have killed off his nephews and usurped the throne, throwing England into civil war. Detective Grant, bored in the hospital, has other views and shows us how history is never as objective as we think it to be.

Human Croquet by Kate Atkinson

For the final book in this chain, I chose Human Croquet, a time travel mystery in which we cross paths with the Bard again. Isobel has no idea that her quaint home in Lythe was once the heart of an Elizabethan feudal estate, many centuries ago. She is trying to find out why her mother went missing, and in the process, gets caught in Shakespearean time warps. In typical Atkinson fashion, Human Croquet shows us how the effects of family history on individual identity are inescapable.

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