WINNER: WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTIONWINNER: FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR, BRITISH BOOK AWARDSWINNER: BOOKS ARE MY BAG READER'S CHOICE AWARDAS FEATURED ON BBC2'S BETWEEN THE COVERSSHORTLISTED: AN POST IRISH NOVEL OF THE YEAR, WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION On a summer's day in 1596, a young girl in Stratford-upon-Avon takes to her bed with a sudden fever. Her twin brother, Hamnet, searches everywhere for help. Why is nobody at home' Their mother, Agnes, is over a mile away, in the garden where she grows medicinal herbs. Their father is working in London. Neither parent knows that Hamnet will not survive the week. Hamnet is a novel inspired by the son of a famous playwright: a boy whose life has been all but forgotten, but whose name was given to one of the most celebrated plays ever written.