The film adaptation of Maggie O'Farrell's acclaimed novel tells the story of William Shakespeare's family. From the perspective of his sensitive wife Agnes, we see how she falls in love with the great bard and the two plan a life together. When their only son Hamnet dies of the plague at the age of eleven, their great love threatens to suffocate. In the midst of this terrible personal tragedy, Shakespeare, in deep despair and grief, begins to write "Hamlet", one of the great dramas in literary history.