From Hamnet to Land, Maggie O'Farrell maps uncharted history episode artwork

EPISODE · Jul 19, 2026 · 30 MIN

From Hamnet to Land, Maggie O'Farrell maps uncharted history

from Bookends with Mattea Roach

Maggie O’Farrell brought Shakespeare’s son out of the footnotes of history with her 2020 novel Hamnet. Its hugely successful movie adaptation made a splash at the Oscars and Maggie herself earned a nomination for the screenplay. Maggie’s new novel, Land, continues to pull from the shadows of history ... while also drawing on her own family myths. It's a sweeping epic that begins with a father-son mapmaking duo in 19th century Ireland. This week, Maggie joins Mattea Roach to talk about taking Hamnet from page to screen, writing about lesser known histories and her new novel’s surprising Canadian connection. Liked this conversation? Keep listening:Douglas Stuart was a fashion exec — now he designs stories Jack Wang: Reimagining the lost stories of Chinese Canadians during WWII Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jul 19, 2026

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From Hamnet to Land, Maggie O'Farrell maps uncharted history

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