Maggie O’Farrell

The prize-winning novelist reveals she loved being a co-screenwriter for new movie Hamnet

- With HANNAH STEPHENSON

THE world of movies is far removed from her normal life as a novelist, but Maggie O'Farrell is clearly relishing the opportunity she had to bring her characters to the big screen as co-screenwriter for Oscar-tipped Hamnet. It’s a story of love, loss and grief, imagining the impact of the death of Shakespeare's 11-year-old son on him and, more specifically, on his wife, Agnes, and how grief inspired the playwright's timeless masterpiece, Hamlet. It stars Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley as the grieving parents.

The Irish writer, 53, co-wrote the screenplay with the film's director, Chloe Zhao (who won an Oscar for Nomadland), and watched in awe as the actors worked their magic on set.

“The book feels like my baby and the film feels more like a niece or nephew for me. It’s very closely related but it’s actually someone else's responsibility in a way.”

What does O'Farrell think is the secret of a good screen adaptation?

“I think to preserve the themes and concerns of the book is probably important, but not necessarily slavishly sticking to everything about the book, because you can't really.

“To make a book, which takes you about eight or nine hours to read, and bring it down to a screenplay, you have to lose a lot. You have to make sure that all those losses don't feel jarring on the screenplay.”

Over the years there have been both good and bad screen versions of terrific books and this year there is no shortage of film adaptations with even greater expectations.