The marriage portrait

Title:

Author:

O'Farrell, Maggie, 1972- author.

Personal Author:

O'Farrell, Maggie, 1972- author.

ISBN:

9780593320624

Edition:

First United States edition.

Physical Description:

339 pages ; 25 cm

General Note:

"This is a Borzoi book."

Abstract:

"A novel set in Renaissance Italy, and centering on the captivating young duchess Lucrezia de' Medici"-- Provided by publisher.

Florence, the 1550s. Lucrezia, third daughter of the grand duke, is obscure in the palazzo's clandestine workings. Then her older sister dies on the eve of her wedding to the Alfonso, ruler of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio. Now Lucrezia is to take her sister's place in a troubled court where her arrival is not universally welcomed. Sitting for her wedding portrait, one thing becomes clear to Lucrezia: her only duty is to provide an heir to shore up the future of the Ferrarese dynasty. -- adapted from jacket

Personal Subject:

Medici, Lucrezia de', 1545-1561-Fiction.

Subject Term:

Renaissance -- Italy -- Florence -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Florence (Italy) -- History -- 1421-1737 -- Fiction.

Genre:

Biographical fiction.

Historical fiction.

Summary:

"A novel set in Renaissance Italy, and centering on the captivating young duchess Lucrezia de' Medici"--

Holds:

Available:*

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Summary

WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION FINALIST * REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK * NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER * The author of award-winning Hamnet brings the world of Renaissance Italy to jewel-bright life in this unforgettable fictional portrait of the captivating young duchess Lucrezia de' Medici as she makes her way in a troubled court.

"I could not stop reading this incredible true story." --Reese Witherspoon (Reese's Book Club Pick)

"O'Farrell pulls out little threads of historical detail to weave this story of a precocious girl sensitive to the contradictions of her station...You may know the history, and you may think you know what's coming, but don't be so sure. " -- The Washington Post

Florence, the 1550s. Lucrezia, third daughter of the grand duke, is comfortable with her obscure place in the palazzo: free to wonder at its treasures, observe its clandestine workings, and devote herself to her own artistic pursuits. But when her older sister dies on the eve of her wedding to the ruler of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio, 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 enter an unfamiliar court whose customs are opaque and where her arrival is not universally welcomed. Perhaps most mystifying of all is her new husband himself, Alfonso. Is he the playful sophisticate he appeared to be before their wedding, the aesthete happiest in the company of artists and musicians, or the ruthless politician before whom even his formidable sisters seem to tremble?

As Lucrezia sits in constricting finery for a painting intended to preserve her image for centuries to come, one thing becomes worryingly clear. In the court's eyes, 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.

Full of the beauty and emotion with which she illuminated the Shakespearean canvas of Hamnet , Maggie O'Farrell turns her talents to Renaissance Italy in an extraordinary portrait of a resilient young woman's battle for her very survival.

Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

A teenage Renaissance bride discovers that her husband of scarcely a year intends to murder her. Following up her National Book Critics Circle Award winner Hamnet (2020), inspired by the life of Shakespeare's wife, O'Farrell turns to another woman seen by history only in glimpses. Little is known about Lucrezia de'Medici, married at 15 to the Duke of Ferrara, besides her suspicious death; rumors that she was poisoned prompted Robert Browning's famous poem "My Last Duchess." In contrast to Browning's ever smiling victim, O'Farrell imagines a rebellious spirit less interested in matrimony than in painting the natural world around her. The author develops tension with a split time frame, opening in 1561 in "a wild and lonely place" to which 16-year-old Lucrezia is quite sure Alfonso has brought her to be killed, then circling back to depict her childhood in Florence, including a life-changing encounter with a tiger in her father's private menagerie. From there the two narratives move forward in tandem: We see Lucrezia growing up to be sacrificed to political maneuvering that mandates her marriage to the suave Alfonso and growing aware in Ferrara that her outwardly courteous and kind husband is brutally determined to cement his shaky hold on the dukedom and ferociously intent on making sure she produces an heir. Her only solace comes in painting wild scenes of imaginary creatures, then covering them up with conventional still lifes approved by Alfonso as proper diversions for his duchess. When she meets Jacopo, an apprentice to the painter commissioned to create her portrait, she finds a soul mate who perhaps offers a way out of her imprisoning marriage. Several grim scenes make clear the mortal consequences of any attempt to escape Alfonso's clutches: Will Lucrezia take the risk? The rollbacks to earlier periods spark some impatience as Lucrezia's 1561 dilemma becomes more pressing, but O'Farrell's vivid portrait of a turbulent age and a vibrant heroine mostly compensate for an undue lengthening of suspense as Lucrezia struggles to defy her fate. A compelling portrait of a young woman out of step with her times. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.