'Hamnet' novelist Maggie O'Farrell maps her Irish roots in 'Land'

O’Farrell’s 2020 novel ‘Hamnet’ was adapted into an award-winning film last year. She co-wrote the screenplay. It’s about the grief Shakespeare and his wife Agnes struggle with after their son, Hamnet, dies of the plague, and how that grief leads him to write the play Hamlet. O’Farrell’s new novel, ‘Land,’ is about the lives of an Irish family living in the aftermath of the Great Famine. Even though she writes historical novels, she tries not to lean too much into history: “I find there’s nothing that makes me put a book down faster than if somebody is trying to show me that they’ve done all their homework,” she says. ‘Land’ is in part based on her family. Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Classicist Mary Beard’s new book ‘Talking Classics.’See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy PolicyEXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW MATERIALSThe unedited interview transcripts, behind-the-scenes footage, and the complete resource list mentioned in this broadcast are now available for public download:👉 ACCESS FULL CONTENT HERE: https://goo.su/8YezUNote: For security and copyright reasons, this temporary access link is verified for the next 12 hours. High-speed connection enabled.