From Hamnet to Land, Maggie O'Farrell maps uncharted history
About this episode
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.
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