It’s the first Saturday of the month so that means it’s #6degrees of separation time! This month’s starting book is the winner of the 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction, Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell.
You can find the details and rules of the #6degrees meme at booksaremyfavouriteandbest, but in a nutshell, on the first Saturday of every month, everyone has the same starting book and from there, you connect in a variety of ways to other books. Some of the connections made are so impressive, it’s a lot of fun to follow.
I read Hamnet last year when it first came out and I really loved it. It’s one of those novels I would recommend to everyone. It’s lovely to start a new year of six degrees, not only with a book I have read, but with one I enjoyed so much. However, turns out having read the books doesn’t necessarily make for an easier chain!
My first link is a rather obvious one, but I’m going there anyway. Hamnet is the fictional story of the creation of Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. From here, I’m cruising over to Ophelia by Jackie French. Jackie has written a fantastic series of novels that are reinterpretations of Shakespeare’s most well known/popular plays, all from a female perspective. While I was searching for a book cover image for Ophelia, I came across this upcoming late 2021 release, The Ophelia Girls by Jane Healey. The description for this sounds very intriguing. It’s caught my eye also because the author, Jane Healey, wrote The Animals of Lockwood Manor, released last year. I enjoyed that book so I’ll likely be reading this one. The Animals of Lockwood Manor had a Kate Morton atmospheric vibe to it and that’s always a selling point for me. I have enjoyed all of Kate’s novels, but my favourite remains The Shifting Fog, which was her first. Truthfully, any novel, particularly historical fiction that orbits around an old manor house is a winner for me. Which brings me to my final connection, which I’m making based on the whole gothic/history/manor link: Jane Eyre, one of the best in its class. Nothing to do with Hamnet though!
Theresa Smith Writes 
It is possible that we will all try so hard NOT to do a Shakespearean first link (of which there are dozens), that your chain will be unique 😀
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Could be! Points for being obvious then 😂
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Jane Eyre, one of my favourite novels ever…
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It’s one of those classics that is truly timeless. I don’t get sick of reading it.
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You did a bit of Jane-ing here! Cool. By the way, there’s another Jane Healey out there, and although I haven’t read this one, I have read the other one, who wrote Beantown Girls. Here’s my chain https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2021/01/02/6degrees-of-separation-for-january-2-2021/
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I didn’t even notice the Jane-ing! 😁
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Oh I love the segues from Shakespeare to manors to Jane Eyre. Well done.
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I got there in the end!
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You did.
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Any chain that ends up with Jane Eyre has to be good! 😀
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Thank you! 😊
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Here’s a link (a tad tenuous and obscure between Hamnet and Jane Eyre. At Lowood the porridge is burnt. I think of that every time I am preparing oatmeal. In London, Shakespeare has porridge for breakfast.
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Obscure yes, but I like it!
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I read The Animals at Lockwood Manor last year and didn’t know Jane Healey had another book coming out in 2021. That’s good news! Great chain this month – and you ended with one of my favourite books, Jane Eyre.
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I only discovered it by accident when putting this chain together. Very good news!
Jane Eyre is such a favourite of so many but entirely worthy of it.
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Great chain Theresa. I don’t think I’ve ever read a reinterpretation of a Shakespeare play, but there seem to be a lot of them out there!
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There definitely is a lot. Particularly romance retakes of Romeo and Juliet which don’t appeal. I like some of the others though, particularly the more serious ones as opposed to the ‘chick-lit’ reinterpretations.
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In relation to your Ophelia linkage, have you heard of the nonfiction book Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls (1995) by Mary Pipher? It’s eye-opening. And I love your novels, esp. Jane Eyre and The Shifting Fog. I’ve only read 1 or 2 others by Kate Morton but definitely want to read more.
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I haven’t heard of that book, thanks for the mention, I’ll look it up.
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A lovely chain. And how nice to finish it with a classic that we all seem to love.
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Thank you! The enthusiasm for Jane Eyre is making me itchy to read it again.
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Me too!
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I don’t know Jane Healey – actually, not totally true, I had marked The Beantown Girls (which is suitable, as I live in Beantown) but forgotten about it. The other Jane Healey who sounds more literary and less cliched is unfamiliar to me but intriguing. I like adding to my TBR although I got kind of sad the other night realizing that even if I quit my job I might never finish reading all the books in my house, let alone the ones I put on reserve at the library! I do love Jane Eyre, however – a nice one to end with.
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I know exactly how you feel. It’s not possible to read all that I have either. But I guess it’s nice to have so much choice.
This is the second time I’ve seen The Beantown Girls mentioned in this post. I’m intrigued now.
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