Author Maggie O’Farrell won the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2020 for her novel 'Hamnet' which is inspired by the lesser-known story of Shakespeare’s son Hamnet, who died at a young age. Few people knew about Hamnet, who died aged 11 in 1596, and his twin sister, Judith, who died aged 77 in the year 1662-- before Farrell's award-winning novel. In fact, one of Shakespeare's most famous plays 'Hamlet' is named after his son Hamnet! Now, author O’Farrell has successfully led a campaign for setting up the first memorial to Shakespeare's lesser-known twins- Hamnet and Judith- in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Two matching rowan trees-- one each for Hamnet and his twin sister Judith- will be unveiled in Stratford-upon-Avon’s Holy Trinity Church on May 7, 2022, reported The Bookseller. This is the church where Shakespeare was baptised, where he prayed, and later he was buried next to his wife Anne Hathaway and Susanna, their elder daugther. And so, the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon is also popularly called "Shakespeare’s Church".
