5 Of The Best Books By Maggie O'Farrell That Aren't Hamnet

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Produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Chloé Zhao, it should come as no surprise that "Hamnet" was a massive hit, and not just to the world of film critics and award shows. At the time of writing, the movie maintains 93% on the Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes, which might be more impressive than the 8 Oscar nominations it received. But before we thank Spielberg, Zhao, or the actors of the project, let's keep in mind that Maggie O'Farrell deserves the ultimate credit.

Without her deeply moving lyrical prose, there would be no beloved book-to-movie adaptation of the heartbreaking loss of young Hamnet Shakespeare. Her ability to capture raw human grief won over readers when the book was first published in 2020, but "Hamnet" is hardly her only triumph. In fact, she's been crafting emotionally complex stories for more than two decades. 

From "Land," her June 2026 new release that is perfect for your next book club read, to her very first novel, "After You'd Gone," which is a story about grief, family secrets, and memory, O'Farrell's writing spans a vast emotional spectrum. "Hamnet" is just the beginning of what this author has to offer.

There's no better way to start a list of the best books by a specific author than introducing their very first book, and for Maggie O'Farrell's list, it's "After You'd Gone." O'Farrell tells the story of a young woman who falls into a coma following a mysterious accident, which forces the people around her to unravel a web of secrets and deep-seated grief. Considering how emotionally mature the story is, you'd be surprised to find out that the author was just 24 when she began writing it. 

If you loved the way O'Farrell explored grief in "Hamnet," you'll find its emotional roots right here in her debut novel. It will also be interesting for "Hamnet" readers to observe just how much the author's perspective on loss after becoming a mother herself has deepened and matured over the span of her career. In a 2026 interview with Literary Hub, O'Farrell reflected on her study of grief over the years and explained how much time, life experience, and motherhood have re-sculpted her views and beliefs.

A 4-star Goodreads reviewer described the writing in "After You'd Gone" as a 'phenomenal thing', writing, "moving back and forth between different points of views, different times, [reminded the reader] of her later books. There are no real breaks for the different time frames and points of view. They are blended on the same page." The story of Alice is the perfect place to begin your Maggie O'Farrell journey.

"The Marriage Portrait," one of the best historical fiction picks from Reese's Book Club, is Maggie O'Farrell's most recent work to make our list. Published in 2022, the story is set during the Renaissance Era in Italy, centering on the life of Lucrezia, a young member of the Medici family. Instead of taking time to grieve her older sister's death, the 16-year-old must marry her sister's former fiancé, who doesn't live by anyone's rules but his own. 

This is one of O'Farrell's books with a thriller element that will keep the reader on edge, because it's quite hard to tell whether Lucrezia is safe or not. Her husband will remind readers of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as O'Farrell writes him as an affectionate husband one moment, and then, within the blink of an eye, he's a calculated tyrant who stops at nothing to get what he wants. 

A 5-star Goodreads reviewer began their review of the book with the perfect explanation of the reading experience: "I bought it, I read it, I loved it....... and was charmed by Maggie O'Farrell's descriptive and vivid portrait of a woman attempting to free herself from the role created for her in life." This is another Maggie O'Farrell must-read to add to your TBR, especially since you won't find a thriller with such beautiful, poetic prose elsewhere.

While a fiction author's novels allow readers to get inside her mind through the safe disguise of made-up characters, memoirs strip away that camouflage entirely. Maggie O'Farrell's "I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death" is another one of her works you should add to your TBR if you fell in love with "Hamnet." 

To write the daunting tale of grief that is "Hamnet," an author must be able to understand the devastatingly thin line between life and death. Across seventeen short essays, O'Farrell discusses her own close calls that almost led her to death's doorstep. These essays will give you the answer as to why she writes about death and grief so often, and show that her deep familiarity with human fragility has never really been a distant concept. 

An Amazon reviewer gave the book 5-stars, saying, "It's an amazing experience to step out of a novel ('Hamnet') I found so moving and compelling, and to step into a memoir that lives at the edge of death and grief, to discover how O'Farrell's own life, illnesses, near misses with death, and griefs had informed her imagining herself into how the novel lingered so closely to the edge of life and death in Shakespeare's family." This memoir will help readers understand the true heartbeat behind her writing. 

"The Hand That First Held Mine" is another masterpiece by Maggie O'Farrell. If "Hamnet" is a linear exploration of the trenches of grief, this 2010 novel is a multi-layered puzzle built around secrets, survival, and motherhood. Told over 50 years, the story centers around two women living in vastly different versions of London, with O'Farrell alternating between the two women's lives and telling a story full of mischief, passion, betrayals, and what it means to be a mother. 

This is one of those books that will draw you in from the very beginning, and it's often referred to as the book that really shows O'Farrell's artistic writing style. Readers praise the opening paragraph for its rhythmic prose, noting that her beautiful wording makes each scene come to life. Although there were some opinions about the dual narrative being a bit disorienting at first, this is another Maggie O'Farrell book where those who practice patience are rewarded with quite the payoff. 

A 5-star Goodreads reviewer said this book meets all of the requirements to be a good book, saying, "The characters have depth and they're relatable." They added that despite not being big on the scenery of a story, "Maggie seduces me with how she uses her pen as a paintbrush. With just a few quick, and what seem to be effortless, strokes, she sits her characters down into a space that's so vivid it makes my head happy."

Finally, we have "The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox." The book is one of O'Farrell's earlier works, published in 2006. If "Hamnet" was a way for Maggie O'Farrell to tell a story full of grief, "The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox" is her haunting psychological thriller about family secrets and the silencing of a woman just because she dared to be different. 

Hearing about an aunt one never knew they had is already quite daunting, but what if that aunt is in an asylum? Iris' life is upended with one phone call, and to understand her family's intentions of hiding her, Iris may have to look to the past and unravel all of the dark choices that led to her aunt being in an asylum for decades.

Although the writing style will feel eerily familiar, the emotional stakes of this book are completely different from those of "Hamnet." Readers loved how O'Farrell's storytelling style had them feeling like they were a part of the story and experiencing what the characters were going through on each page. Some had so many different emotions after finishing the book that they felt they couldn't really put into the right words the mix of heartbreak and anger they felt for Esme's lost years.

If "Hamnet" is how you got to know Maggie O'Farrell, you may have thought her strong suit is a slow-burning familial drama and exploring themes like grief, and you're not wrong. But we wanted to prepare a list of her works that show you just how versatile a writer she can be. Sure, she can write about loss and grief, but it's never always in the same way. In fact, O'Farrell has proven through multiple works that she can do so across completely unexpected genres. 

The aspects of grief in her stories are never limited to the physical loss of someone close — she explores lives ridden with grief, the opportunities missed because of grief, and the quiet ways trauma can linger for years or decades after a tragedy. So, our focus for this list was variety. We wanted to show our readers the incredible narrative range the award-winning author has to offer. 

With a decent shortlist, we looked through reviews to understand the consensus for each book. This helped us narrow down the list to the best five picks that would showcase her craftsmanship. If you've been mesmerized by "Hamnet" and you've been searching for your next read to achieve your reading goals for the year, we promise these Maggie O'Farrell books will not disappoint you.