This discussion guide is designed for readers who want to go deeper into Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell and explore its themes of grief, love, motherhood, art, and memory through thoughtful group conversation. It is ideal for book clubs, classrooms, and reading communities using the Bookum app at www.bookumapp.com, a social book club and book networking app where readers can host discussions, share annotations, and connect around meaningful books.

These questions are written to support open dialogue, emotional reflection, and literary analysis, whether you are leading a live discussion, posting prompts in a group thread, or preparing for a virtual book club conversation.

Opening and First Impressions

1 - What stayed with you most after finishing Hamnet and why?

2 - How did your expectations of this book compare to your actual reading experience?

3 - Did knowing the connection to Shakespeare and Hamlet shape how you read the novel?

Hamnet and Childhood

4 - How does the opening chapter centered on Hamnet searching for help shape the emotional tone of the novel?

5 - What does Hamnet’s relationship with Judith reveal about sibling bonds and shared identity?

6 - Why do you think O’Farrell chose to open the book from Hamnet’s perspective rather than Agnes’s?

Agnes as a Mother and Healer

7 - How would you describe Agnes’s connection to nature and intuition?

8 - Do you see Agnes’s healing abilities as practical knowledge, spiritual insight, or something else?

9 - How does Agnes’s grief differ from how other characters experience loss?

Grief and Loss

10 - How does the novel portray grief as both isolating and communal?

11 - Which character’s response to Hamnet’s death felt most real or relatable to you?

12 - What moments in the book best capture how grief changes time, memory, or identity?

Marriage and Distance

13 - How would you describe the marriage between Agnes and her husband before Hamnet’s death?

14 - After Hamnet dies, what creates the greatest emotional distance between them?

15 - Do you think their separation is inevitable or avoidable?

Art, Memory, and Creation

16 - How did you feel about Hamnet’s father naming his play Hamlet?

17 - Do you see the play as an act of love, survival, or avoidance?

18 - Can art ever truly honor grief, or does it risk exploiting it?

The Plague and Fate

19 - Why do you think O’Farrell spends so much time tracing the path of the pestilence?

20 - How does the novel connect global events to intimate family tragedy?

21 - What does the book suggest about control versus randomness in life?

Ending and Meaning

22 - How did you interpret Agnes’s experience watching the play in London?

23 - Does the novel offer healing, understanding, or simply acceptance by the end? What about the movie?

24 - What do you think Hamnet ultimately says about how we remember the dead?