LoveReading Says
LoveReading Says
Hamnet was one of my books of the year in 2021, and I didn't think it could be bettered. This is equally full of drama, of suspense, of the highs and lows of history and beautifully packaged so it's a joy inside and out.
O'Farrell sweeps us back to Florence in the 1550s and we join her in Lucrezia's plight, her fight for survival.
When her older sister dies on the eve of her wedding to the ruler of Ferrara, Moderna and Regio, Lucrezia is thrust unwittingly into the limelight: the duke is quick to request her hand in marriage, and her father just as quick to accept on her behalf.
Having barely left girlhood behind, Lucrezia must now make her way in a troubled court whose customs are opaque and where her arrival is not universally welcomed. She has one duty: to provide the heir who will shore up the future of the Ferranese dynasty. Until then, for all of her rank and nobility, the new duchess’s future hangs entirely in the balance.
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The Marriage Portrait Synopsis
The Marriage Portrait is a dazzling evocation of the Italian Renaissance in all its beauty and brutality.
Winter, 1561. Lucrezia, Duchess of Ferrara, is taken on an unexpected visit to a country villa by her husband, Alfonso. As they sit down to dinner it occurs to Lucrezia that Alfonso has a sinister purpose in bringing her here. He intends to kill her. Lucrezia is sixteen years old, and has led a sheltered life locked away inside Florence's grandest palazzo. Here, in this remote villa, she is entirely at the mercy of her increasingly erratic husband. What is Lucrezia to do with this sudden knowledge? What chance does she have against Alfonso, ruler of a province, and a trained soldier? How can she ensure her survival. The Marriage Portrait is an unforgettable reimagining of the life of a young woman whose proximity to power places her in mortal danger.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781472223883 |
| Publication date: |
6th July 2023 |
| Author: |
Maggie O'Farrell |
| Publisher: |
Tinder Press |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
438 pages |
| Primary Genre |
Historical Fiction
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| Other Genres: |
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| Recommendations: |
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Press Reviews
Maggie O'Farrell Press Reviews
Every bit as evocative and spellbinding as Hamnet. O'Farrell, thank God, just seems to be getting better and better . . . O'Farrell's writing is so vivid it melts away the time and space between now and 16th-century Italy . . . With The Marriage Portrait, then, O'Farrell hasn't just produced another magnificently transporting page-turner. She has given us an exhilarating, devastating look at women's captivity, creativity and ultimately, rebellion in a world run by some very cruel men - i newspaper
Finely written and vividly imagined, it is far from being simplistic, but there is an engaging simplicity to it . . . a very good one to be read, as publishers used to say, by children of all ages - Guardian Book of the Day
In O'Farrell's hands, historical detail comes alive . . . evocative, moving and sensitively rendered - Spectator
O'Farrell is simply outstanding - Guardian
Her writing is exquisite. Immersive and compelling - Marian Keyes
An extraordinary writer with a profound understanding of the most elemental human bonds - Observer
One of the most exciting novelists alive - Washington Post
Ingenious, inventive, humane, wry, truthful . . . better than her last novel - Scotsman
Her narrative enchantment will wrest suspense and surprise out of a death foretold - Financial Times
Author
About Maggie O'Farrell
Maggie O'Farrell is the author of seven novels, AFTER YOU'D GONE, MY LOVER'S LOVER, THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US, which won a Somerset Maugham Award, THE VANISHING ACT OF ESME LENNOX, THE HAND THAT FIRST HELD MINE, which won the 2010 Costa Novel Award, INSTRUCTIONS FOR A HEATWAVE, which was shortlisted for the 2013 Costa Novel Award, and THIS MUST BE THE PLACE. She lives in Edinburgh.
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