I have recently read two books which have received tremendous critical and popular acclaim.
Great reviews from the critics, and a great deal of 4 and 5 star reviews from readers.
I was disappointed with both, however, and wonder how they were given such acclaim from such reputable publications as The Economist and Time magazine, in the case of “The Wager”, and generally in the case of “Hamnet” by Maggie O’Farrell.
“The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder” by David Grann was billed as a non-fiction book that read like fiction. I found it boring and uneventful with a massively disappointing ending.
“Hamnet”, a novel about the death of the 11-year-old son of William Shakespeare was equally uneventful devoid of a strong narrative. It is nicely written by Maggie O’Farrell but some of the writing I found to be on the twee side with scarcely credible dialogue in places.
It just did not do it for me, in any case. Although it did win the women’s prize for fiction in 2020.
Both of these books I found tremendously disappointing, and I could not wait for the end, quite frankly.
Maybe you will have a different view.
If you want to check them out click on the links to Amazon below: