Local Lynx No.146 (v2) October-November 2022

story is not weighed down with period
detail. The book is a study of
opposites: city versus country/nature;
male versus female; work versus
family; life versus death. At the centre
of it are two love stories, the first
between Shakespeare (never explicitly
named in the book) and his wife
Agnes, the second between a mother
and her child.
Told in two parts, the first half of the book is rooted
in the domestic world of the house and the daily rhythm
of ordinary life, introducing the characters of Hamnet,
his twin, Judith, their grandparents and parents. In
avoiding naming Shakespeare, the narrative centres on
family life and Agnes. This is not a story about a
famous author; it’s the story of the lives that shaped him
and his work.
Agnes is an outsider. Happy alone in the natural
world and uncomfortable in town life and amongst
people, her knowledge of nature and herbs makes her
both revered and feared by the Stratford locals. This
‘otherness’, which attracts her husband to her, also
threatens to separate them. This is the conflict at the
heart of the book and their love story is moving and
real.
The second half, following Hamnet’s death, is a
study of grief. Without chapters, the latter part of the
book is untethered from the more conventional style of
the first half and echoes Agnes’s emotional state. Here
their oppositions threaten to overwhelm the characters:
Shakespeare, a man of poetry unable to express his
feelings, retreats to the noise and distractions of the city
and his work to navigate his grief; Agnes, the empath,
grieves in the silence of the house and nature. Will their
love survive their tragedy?
Although O’Farrell adds detail for the fans (Hamnet
and his twin sister, Judith, swapping clothes for fun to
fool the adults; Hamnet’s burial in a herb-filled field by
the river recalling Ophelia’s watery grave), this is not a
book for Shakespeare enthusiasts looking for
revelations or details about his work. This is a small
story about the bigger things in life: family, grief and,
above all, love.
Fiona Peterson
BINHAM
Contact: Liz Brady 01328 830830
lizsdavenport@gmail.com
ANDREW TAYLOR
I first met Andy 57 years ago at
the McCauley flying group at
Little Snoring. At that time, he
was an agricultural student with
the Lyles family. We learnt to fly
together.
Andy was not at all ‘NFN’ he
was quiet, studious, and very
clever, a quick learner. He was
one of the boys and we had a grand time.
On one of his solo trips, he had an engine problem
and landed the Tiger Moth in his own field.
He was brought up in Reading where his father,
Cyril, was a very successful businessman in the aviation
industry. It was not a life he wished to follow, and Cyril
recognized this. After agricultural college in Essex, they
purchased Manor Farm in Binham (1966).
He married Anne Codman and Jeremy, Alastair and
Caroline joined the fold.
He was a benchmark farmer for the area – he won
prizes for his crops and even the old established farmers
of the area would take stock of what was happening at
Manor Farm.
All the time he was farming, he had his Chipmunk
aircraft in which he gave many people flights.
Andy and Anne parted and in 1995 he married
Beverley, and they were together for 31 years.
He was as we all know, the most incredible aeromodeler
– in design, build and flying, his model
meetings are legend and he always looked so happy on
these occasions. Raising thousands of pounds for East
Anglia Air Ambulance (with Bev’s help and her rock
buns!).
He was kind and generous – he liked people to share
his land by walking and he gave Toby a place for his
livestock.
Andy was non-confrontational and so modest, but he
was a giant of a quiet gentleman, and will be hugely
missed in the community.
Our commiserations to Beverley and his family.
Henry
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