An boy, whose passage through life was lost in oblivion, but his name remained in History as the title of one of the most famous plays of all time, comes to life through the pen of a great writer at her best moment.
This is the tender and unbearably moving story of Amnet, who, on a summer day in 1596, in Stratford, desperately seeks help to save his twin sister, who falls ill with fever. No one is home. Their mother, Agnes, is in her herb garden, cultivating plants, while their father is away in London for work. The parents do not know that by the end of the week, one of their children will no longer be alive.
Inspired by true events, Maggie O'Farrell's award-winning novel is about the bond between twins, a marriage on the brink of destruction from heavy grief, while also telling the story of a hawk and its mistress; of fleas that board a ship in Alexandria, and of the son of a glove maker who defies conventions to claim the woman he loves.