On a summer's day in 1596 a young girl in Stratford-upon-Avon takes to her bed with a fever. Her twin brother Hamnet searches everywhere for help. Hamnet is a novel inspired by the son of a famous playwright. It is a story of the bond between twins and of a marriage pushed to the brink by grief. It is also the story of a kestrel and its mistress; flea that boards a ship in Alexandria; and a glovemaker's son who flouts convention in pursuit of the woman he loves. It’s an unforgettable reimagining of a boy whose life has been all but forgotten but whose name was given to one of the most celebrated plays ever written.