If you are a fan of historical fiction, pick this book up now. Honestly, even if you’re unsure if historical fiction is for you, I still think you should give this one a go. Yet another novel that wiled away on my shelf for well over a year before I picked it up, and then I couldn’t put it back down.
A succinct summary comes from the historical note which opens the story:
In 1560, fifteen-year-old Lucrezia di Cosimo de’ Medici left Florence to begin her married life with Alfonso II d’Este, Duke of Ferrara.
Less than a year later, she would be dead.
The official cause of her death was given as ‘putrid fever’, but it was rumored that she had been murdered by her husband.
Now, if you’re like me, you might be wondering why the author spoils their own story before you’re even officially at page 1. Why already tell us that our heroine, Lucrezia, dies? Is that not the very definition of a spoiler? To that, O’Farrell just sits back and chuckles, watching as we plummet into the world of Italian high society and treachery.
Not only was the book beautifully plotted, it was beautifully written. I read O’Farrell’s other book Hamnet a few years ago and thought it was okay, but didn’t quite see the hype around it. Now I’m wondering why The Marriage Portrait seems to be the lesser-known and lesser-loved of the two of them. I was enthralled, I was on the edge of my seat, I was reading it walking between rooms. Lucrezia is a fascinating heroine, to the point you often forget how young she is through the course of the story, and O’Farrell deftly weaves a narrative that pulls you along right to the bitter end.
2% Rating: 9/10
Recommend? Absolutely
Re-Read? Yes, and since Hamnet became a film, this one definitely should as well.
Time: 1:37