90% of the books I read are audiobooks, and actually reading this book is a reminder of the sheer pleasure one can get from seeing gorgeously written words. This novel of an historical figure, Lucrezia de' Medici, unfolds slowly and suspensefully. We know the ending, yet O'Farrell makes our wait worth it as she builds up to a haunting completion. It's brilliant. And now I know I did Hamnet a disservice by listening to it, so that's my next print book. O'Farrell is definitely a new favorite author!

Remember when a woman’s worth was defined by her ability to bear children….so much so that even barely out of puberty she was expected to conceive? The year was 2022….no wait, the year was 1560. I’m sorry I couldn’t resist.

Lucrezia di Cosimo de’ Medici married her dead sister’s betrothed when she was 15 years old. (It would have been 13 if not for her wily nurse). At sixteen she too was dead and rumored to have been killed by her husband, Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara presumably for the high crime of not giving him an heir. A little factual and poetic justice….he goes on to remarry twice and never fathers a child. This is that story with liberties taken of course. O’Farrell elevates it to art as she does in all her work with her powers of imagination and description.

Historical fiction may be my favorite genre and so I fell on this with relish. Having devoured and loved Hamnet, I knew I was in for a treat and I thank Knopf for an early look at this book. Is it as good as Hamnet? Ahh to be in that rarified place of esteemed writers whose work is measured against their last book, a masterpiece. Maybe not, but I enjoyed it more than 99% of what I read. So much is bad these days, that I seldom finish a book anymore. Maggie O’Farrell is an auto buy for me and I’ll be highly recommending it to all my friends.

Lucrezia is the fourth child to her parents Eleanora and Cosimo. She is different from her brothers and sisters, energetic, adventurous and prone to strange sicknesses. At 15, she is married of to Alfonso, Duke of Ferrara. This book alternates between Lucrezia's early life and her married life.

I really enjoyed the reading experience of this book. The prose is just wonderful and flowing and you really feel the characters. The story itself has a bit of mystery to it, but if you pay close attention you may be able to figure it out before the end. There were some parts that were a bit slow and I found myself skimming just a bit. I do love O'Farrell's prose, but sometimes it is too much. My other complaint is that although the characters were amazingly fleshed out, I felt like the places weren't. I couldn't get a good feel for the architecture and layout of the buildings. These weren't central to the story, but it's something I like in a book where places are mentioned frequently.

This book also really shows how hard it was to be a woman in the 15oos. There were no options, no choices and no autonomy. It really was all about producing heirs and doing what you were told. You really feel for Lucrezia and some of the secondary female characters like Alfonso's sisters and Lucrezia's maids. That was partly the reason I wanted to smack Lucrezia sometimes for being so naive and saying the wrong things. I was yelling at her in my head for not knowing better. But she was 15 and growing up in a very different time so her actions made sense. They were still infuriating though!

Overall, this is a fantastic book and I'm sure it will be just as big a hit as Hamnet. Definitely make time for this one!

A luminously told tale of Lucretia de Medici, a little known member of the famous and powerful de Medici family of Florence. Maggie O'Farrell deliciously gives voice to the awkwardness of a teenage girl, totally unprepared for the intrigues of the court and marriage to a powerful ruler only interested in an heir. The backdrop of Lucretia's world is told in masterful detail, immersing the reader in 16th century Italian culture. I confess to, at times, reading and rereading O'Farrell's prose, simply to enjoy the beauty of it. However, I am undecided about the alternative ending; the glide leading into it was subtle but still a bit--jarring?--for me. Yet I highly recommend it and would reread it if only I didn't have about 20 other books waiting.

My opinion of Maggie O'Farrell's writing isn't among the majority. While I read and enjoyed her previous book titled Hamnet I wasn't as wowed by it as so many others were. With this new release I went in with an open mind as I will read ANYTHING about the Medici family and the Renaissance period.
The premise was appealing. In the pages of this book readers learn about Lucrecia, the third daughter of the grand duke, and her life as she transitioned from the nursery to being a wife. O'Farrell did an excellent job of mapping out all of the characters and the dynamics of society at that time. Both the surroundings and the clothing were sumptuously described for the readers.
I didn't care for the portrayal of Lucrecia. She came off as a simpering child who did not have the ability to grow up and adapt. So much of the time spent on Lucrecia was devoted to her wandering mind and it was difficult to get through. I also felt that the timelines didn't appear to have enough differentiation between them. If the reader doesn't pay attention to the time noted at the beginning of the chapter it can get confusing.

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley.

Maggie's O'Farrell's new novel THE MARRIAGE PORTRAIT is a beautifully told coming of age story in the 1550's. Lucrezia is promised in marriage to Alfonzo, the Duke of Ferrara. The young duchess has but one role: to produce an heir. I absolutely fell in love with Lucrezia, her wit, her passion, her artistic ability, and her zest for life even within the controlled environment of her husband's court.

I can’t think of anything like this I have read in a long time. It toed a nice line between literary without being too abstract or pretentious to easily enjoy. This isn’t an area of history that gets as much historical fiction penned about it so all of that was fresh and interesting. Really well done all around.

This book was amazing - Lucrezia d'Medici was not a person I was familiar with. Reading the summary for this book sparked my interest and I did enjoy Hamnet. The Marriage Portrait blew Hamnet out of the water. O'Farrell's fleshing out of a woman who lived only sixteen (ish) years was phenomenal. I felt connected to Lucrezia and found myself reading late into the night to see what came next in her short life. What a tragic life. O'Farrell's descriptions of Italy, Florence and Ferrara were rich intriguing. I cannot recommend this highly enough.

Maggie O'Farrell does not disappoint the lover of historical fiction! In The Marriage Portrait, the author weaves a vivid, intricate and very human portrait of the Lucrezia de' Medici, the sixteenth-century Duchess of Ferrara. The novel tells the story of the privileged childhood of Lucrezia, born to a life of luxury in the prominent Tuscan family, who marries Alfonso, Duke of Ferrara. O'Farrell gives us a window into the unsettled, artistic (and sometimes wild) nature of Lucrezia, whose musings, imagination and keen intellect allows her to see details in life often missed by others -- including her growing fears that her husband is trying to kill her. The story is not told in linear fashion, which can make it a bit difficult to follow at times. Highly recommended - a most enjoyable read!

The tumultuous and demeaning relationship between Lucrezia of the d'Medici family and Alfonso the Duke of Ferrara winds and threads throughout this incredibly=detailed fictional examination of the real Lucrezia and Alfonso.
Lucrezia will leave her home at the tender age of 14 to become the wife of the Duke of Ferrara who had been betrothed to her older sister Marie. Marie's untimely death did not deter the Duke from forming a union with the powerful d'Medici family; thus, younger sister Lucrezia would do. She had been the most challenging but the most interesting child in her family, and she dreaded leaving.

The marriage starts out in positive ways, such as Alfonso commissioning a painting to be created of his beloved Lucrezia. However, the Duke very quickly makes his demands known; he is the controlling factor in the marriage, and he wants heirs to his dukedom as quickly as possible. Added to this changed lifestyle is the Duke's lack of compassion and cruelty when dealing with his dukedom. When Lucrezia fails to live up to Alfonso's expectations, he contemplates ending her life.

Based on the real lives of these two historical figures, author Maggie O'Farrell weaves a beautifully=written scenario of a marriage that never should have been and the life of a very young woman who never could become her true self.

History books tell us that Lucrezia de’ Medici married a powerful duke at age 13 and died from a debilitating disease a few years later. However, author Maggie O’Farrell resurrects Lucrezia’s vibrant, powerful voice and dares to imagine a different ending to her tale. This compelling historical fiction’s lush, descriptive strokes depict a young woman’s battle between duty and survival.

Very well crafted novel about the life of Lucrecia, who becomes the Duchess of Ferrara by marriage, after her older sister dies before her own wedding to the Duke. Lucrezia is barely a teen, but the pressures of conceiving an heir play heavily into her marriage. While her own impending death is known from the earliest pages, the author handily keeps the reader engaged until the very end of her one year with flashbacks and descriptions of the bride's early life and her travels from Florence to Ferrara. Highly recommend for fans of historical fiction.

O "Farrell, author of Hamnet, does it again with The Marriage Portrait. She immerses you in the life of 15th century Florentine Duchess Lucrezia de Medici who died a mysterious death at 16 in her husband's duchy. The reader learns what might have happened to her as a girl betrothed to a Duke many years her senior, and how she and other royal children end up as property in their parents schemes for power. And perhaps also how she stands up for herself and cheats the fate that seems to be in store for her.
I was so caught up in this book that I spent a beautiful Saturday reading in my room rather than going shopping or to the beach.-there is no better recommendation than that.

In the 16th century, at the age of 15, Lucrezia di Cosimo de Medici (yes, those Medici) of Florence married Alfonso II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara. Less than a year later, Lucrezia was dead. Historians believe she died of tuberculosis or another lung ailment, but immediately after her death, rumors began to circulate that the Duke murdered her. Maggie O'Farrell creates a wonderful fictional biography of Lucrezia based on the scant information available about her. Just one question remains: why would the Duke kill his pretty young wife? Lucrezia hadn't produced an heir yet, but they had been married less than a year and Lucrezia was only 15. The Duke went on to marry two more times but did not produce any heirs, which leads the reader to wonder if he was sterile or gay? I love Maggie O'Farrell's writing and anyone who enjoys historical fiction about lesser known historical figures will enjoy this one.

"You shall be painted, and by a master, by the best of my court artists. And if it turns out to be anything less than exquisite, I shall insist that it be done over and over again until it is perfect."

So, the title, THE MARRIAGE PORTRAIT, is interesting.

It's interesting in part because, to imagine a portrait (especially in the context of the Italian Renaissance) is to imagine opulence and grandeur on a scale worthy of a royal court, of a museum or a gallery. Sheer and essentially untouchable beauty. Perfection held at a remove. Inaccessibility. Few identifiable portraits of Lucrezia de' Medici, Duchess of Ferrara, have survived the ravages of time; one of them, allegedly the work of Bronzino, is featured on the cover of this book. In it, a staid and dignified young woman, who appears older than the mere 16 years she was when she died, wears a decadent black dress and apprises you coldly across whole centuries.

It's interesting because that portrait represents perfectly, as many inevitably do, how history has perceived Lucrezia, when it has deigned to perceive her at all: as an object. A point of fixation. The focus of our attention and admiration but nothing more. A portrait is an object that exists solely to benefit and please others, and so is a woman. A portrait is perfection, and so must a woman be. So must Lucrezia be.

It's interesting because, well, a portrait is rather limiting, isn't it? It's a time capsule, a freeze frame. A singular moment that we carve out of history, deem worthy of greater glory, and elevate. But it's never the full story, and we know that women's stories are always the first to be forgotten. It's interesting because what remains of Lucrezia's story is, primarily, also the story of her marriage: her betrothal to her dead sister's intended husband, and her eventual death, allegedly at his hands, for the simple 'crime' of not providing him with an heir. How many women throughout human history have died as a result of a man's fixation on their child-bearing abilities?

These are the historical parameters within which Maggie O'Farrell artlessly weaves her fiction. As a writer, her attention to detail is unmatched; her ability to craft a potent sense of time and place, unparalleled. But her character work is where she truly stuns. A new Lucrezia practically leaps off of these pages: a vivacious and curious spirit, a dreamer, a tamer of tigers. An artist and true visionary. A significant portion of this novel is comprised of her musings and imaginings, adding substance and breadth not only to the plot but also to Lucrezia herself, reminding readers that this woman who we have previously only seen rendered two-dimensionally was probably, absolutely capable of creativity, wisdom, independent and well-reasoned thought. Secondary characters are given their moments as well: the callous and desperate Alfonso, Duke of Ferrara; the cruel and conniving Il Baldassare; the devoted and loyal Emilia. But Lucrezia is the beacon, the bright and brilliant light around which everything and everyone orbits.

Don't misunderstand me: her story was desperately, inarguably, unfairly sad. She spent much of her life a prisoner of sorts, first of her parents and then of her husband. The final segments of this book, dealing with her last 'illness' , were rendered so beautifully, despite the tragedy of it all; it's impossible not to feel some kind of grief for her and for what she might have been, had she been allowed to marry another (or not marry at all). Perhaps we could call her a victim of her time, if this particular form of violence against women, this silencing and erasure, didn't continue in some way to this very day.

But in spite of all that, what O'Farrell has done here is painted a new portrait; she has finally given Lucrezia a voice of her own. It is a true masterpiece.

"Live a long life, and be happy," the maid Sofia implores on the event of Lucrezia's marriage.

Perhaps now, she finally can.

Maggie O'Farrell is an author that has completely captivated me with her writing. Having been enchanted by Hamnet, I was so excited to receive an ARC of her latest novel and it did not disappoint! Filled with luxurious details and the author's magical use of language, the Italian Renaissance life of young, doomed Lucrezia de'Medici.
As a reader, I was completely transported into this world and time in a way that not many novels can do, especially historical fiction. Many authors can write stories about true events in history but Ms. O'Farrell had a very particular style to the way she lays out the details and thoughts of her characters that demand you become inhabitants of their world. The mundane becomes magical and the tragic becomes unbearable, such is the power of this author's writing.
If you are a person who enjoys well written, out-of-the-ordinary historical fiction, you like to be fully immersed in your story & characters, and you like novels to make you FEEL something, definitely put The Marriage Portrait at the top of your TBR list!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the ARC!

Maggie O'Farrell has a knack for taking tiny trivia and turning it into a fascinating historical fiction.
Here we meet Lucrezia de' Medici, Duchess of Ferrara and member of the famous Medici family of Italy, who died of questionable circumstances shortly into her marriage. From the beginning we know of her fate, but the pull of the novel is that you know how the story will end, its a matter of how the book will get you there.
Both maddening and frightening, women didn't have many rights back in the 16th century, a fact that persisted until modern times. Women produced babies, were bartering chips in marriage, and essentially property to control. O'Farrell paints Lucrezia as an average teenager with normal rebellion, questionings, and energy that get her into trouble. I can't begin to imagine being a child bride and expected to be controlled like that in the most active years of being a teenager.
The book begins well but does sad quite a bit. Some days its was just hard for me to pick up as the action didnt propel the book very much in the early parts of the marriage. However, if you give the book a chance, it is a quick read from just shy of mid-way. Of course the authors note explains the choices O'Farrell made in the book, tying the book's facts and fiction together. Enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of The Marriage Portrait.

Hamnet was one of my absolute favorite reads from 2021, so I was ecstatic to see that Maggie O'Farrell had a new novel coming out this year.

1550s, Italy, the de' Medici family. Imagine being 15 years old, married off to a man you do not know, and sent to live in a different land, far away from your family. Every time I read stories like this, I am reminded how lucky I am, as a woman, to have been born when I was. In this imagined tale of Lucrezia de' Medici, (who, in reality, died tragically after 1 year of marriage at the age of 16 from tuberculosis) we meet a young girl, scared and convinced her husband is going to kill her. In alternating flashback chapters, we see her grow up, raised to become a duchess, a wife, a mother. We experience her fear of leaving home, her first moments of "freedom" as a wife, and the downward spiral of her marriage as her husband's true nature is shown.

I enjoyed this book and getting to know Lucrezia, although we spend a LOT of time alone with her thoughts. While this usually bothers me, I didn't mind it here because it does well to emphasize how alone and isolated she really was. We feel her desperation and fear, her knowledge that she has no power, and glimpses of hope and optimism. I truly enjoy Maggie's writing, her ability to create such vivid descriptions, and The Marriage Portrait is no exception- tragically heartbreaking and beautifully written.

This story of Duchess Lucrezia, one of the di Medicis, was really good. It gives you a look into the rich and infamous during the Italian Renaissance period. There is delicious palace intrigue, a curious, talented, and highly intuitive protagonist, who is a victim of her time, and lots of gorgeous scenery. This is definitely a page turner. The writing is fast paced, descriptive, without being cloyingly so, and poignant. I loved this book and highly recommend it.

I've read two of O'Farrell's previous books: "I am, I am, I am," and "Hamnet", and loved both so when the arc for the Marriage Portrait became available on NetGalley I immediately requested it. This book did not disappoint. It was weird and beautiful and the historical details were spot on. If you look back through my Goodreads you'll find that I'm a sucker for a story on an overlooked historical woman so this one definitely fits my tastes.

Lucrezia Medici is the overlooked daughter of the Duke of Florence, a difficult, precocious child she was allowed to roam free with very little adult supervision. Or should I say parental supervision as Lucrezia found herself a second home in the kitchens. Lucrezia is an imaginative child who from an early age shows a talent for art and is allowed to explore her talents since she is a third daughter and pretty insignificant. However, that all changes when her older sister dies and Lucrezia is forced to marry her sister's fiance Alfonso, the Duke of Ferrara. The marriage starts off seemingly okay but quickly takes a darker turn as Alfonso is prone to mood swings. Lucrezia has only her maid for companionship as she's carted across Italy and forced to adjust to her new reality. Obviously, things don't end well for the new duchess but there are some twists I didn't see coming. Lucrezia is only sixteen but she comes across as much older probably since she has to deal with an unfortunate husband like Alfonso.

I really like O'Farrell's distinctive writing style that combines lots of details and introspective character work. If you've read Hamnet this book has a very similar writing style. Again I like it but just a tidbit for future readers. I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend for fans of historical fiction or fans of O'Farrell.

I was provided a free copy of this book through NetGalley.