Five Books For Shakespeare's Birthday, fun stuff edition

A bonus recommendation, a links roundup, music, a poem, and more

Apr 25, 2025

*Young Man Among Roses* by Nicholas Hilliard, c.1585-95. Romeo, is that you?

Welcome to this month’s Fun Stuff Edition of Five Books For, a newsletter for people who love great stories.

Over at Global Comment, in this month’s Great Adaptations I take an in-depth look at Shakepeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Baz Luhrmann’s spectacular 1996 adaptation, Romeo + Juliet, starring Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio. If you ever feel unaccountably nostalgic for the 90s, as I sometimes do (despite not enjoying them that much at the time) then this is the perfect watch for you. Equally, if you love movies which have spectacular visuals and great soundtracks then it’s a must-see.

As always for this edition of the newsletter, we have a bonus recommendation, a poem, a playlist and some reading links, all in keeping with this month’s theme of books inspired by Shakespeare.

I hope you’ll find something here to surprise and delight you. If you aren’t already subscribed, then you can sign up here to receive these newsletters directly in your inbox. The newsletter is free but if you would like to support it with a paid subscription that option is also available. If you don’t have the funds for a paid subscription at the moment but would like to leave a tip instead, the button below will allow you to send an amount of your choosing as a one-off payment.

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Let’s dive in!

Bonus recommendation: Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

“She grows up, too, with the memory of what it meant to be properly loved, for what you are, not what you ought to be.”

So what’s it about? This is a beautiful, sad, lyrical novel inspired by Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet, who died at the age of 11 in 1596. Our main character is Agnes (usually known as Anne Hathaway), Shakespeare’s wife, and the focus is very much on his family rather than on Shakespeare himself, to the point that Shakespeare himself remains unnamed throughout the novel. There are two timelines, so that we meet Agnes and Shakespeare in their youth, witnessing their courtship and the early years of their marriage, and we also see their marriage some years later, in the run-up to and the aftermath of Hamnet’s death.

What’s great about it? O’Farrell’s prose style, especially in this novel, is lyrical and beautiful, and works perfectly in terms of creating an atmospheric portrait of Elizabethan England. I also love how O’Farrell decided to elide Shakespeare a little from the story and to concentrate instead on his family at home - it’s a very different approach to most books which focus on Shakespeare and it works especially well here, where the more mundane (in the truest sense of the word) details of domestic and family life are the focus, rather than the world of the theatre or court. It’s a piercing exploration of bereavement and grief, and especially of the devastation of losing a child, and while the subject matter is heavy, it’s handled with grace. It also allows O’Farrell to explore how Hamnet’s death may have influenced Shakespeare’s work, particularly Hamlet, which also explores themes of grief, fate and the weight of death on those left behind. Like Hamlet, Hamnet has some (mild) supernatural aspects, predominantly Agnes’ intuition, which goes further than what we would describe as intuition today, and also has a father-son relationship at its core.

Give it a try if: you love fictional accounts of historical figures; you feel like crying; you’re interested in reading about grief; you love beautiful prose; you love historical fiction that’s more literary; you love books which have female protagonists; you love books with real emotional depth; you love Shakespeare; you’re interested in how Shakespeare’s life may have influenced his work; you love stories set in Elizabethan England.

This month’s listens

This month’s playlist includes the soundtrack to Romeo + Juliet, and a whole heap of fascinating podcasts on Shakespeare and the various books and authors we’ve chatted about this month - a veritable embarrassment of riches.

This month’s poem

Sonnet 130

By William Shakespeare

What could be more appropriate? The thing I love best about this poem is that it really demonstrates Shakespeare’s sense of humour.

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound.
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground.
 And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
 As any she belied with false compare.

You can find all of Shakespeare's works online at the Folger Shakespeare Library.

This month’s reading links

An interview with Emily St. John Mandel on Station Eleven. (University of Central Florida, free)

A thoughtful discussion of Station Eleven and its HBO adaptation (The New Yorker, paywall).

The Folger Shakespeare Library interview Maggie O’Farrell about Hamnet for their podcast. (The Folger Shakespeare Library, free).

A fascinating look at how performances of Shakespeare’s plays have changed over time, and where the gaps in our knowledge are. (The British Council, free)

A look at how Shakespeare’s house was demolished by the man who bought it in the 1700s. (BBC, free)

How Shakespeare’s first folio was rescued from a fire. (LitHub, free)

The 420 year search for Shakespeare’s lost play and the hunt for his lost books and manuscripts. (BBC and The Guardian, both free)

Why we should celebrate Shakespeare. (LitHub, free)

Thanks for reading!

As always, I’m grateful to each and every one of you who subscribes, free or paid. I know we all have such crowded inboxes these days and I feel so lucky to be sharing the joys of reading with you like this. I would love to hear from you - what have you been reading recently? Have you read or watched any of the books I’ve covered this month? Let me know in the comments. I’ll be back next month with a new theme and more reading joy.

Happy reading!

Kate

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