The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell

4.03 AVERAGE

karenrj's review against another edition

5.0
This is our second book club choice by O'Farrell, after Hamnet, and this one is also excellent. I might give it a 4.8 really, but I did really love it. I can't explain my review without spoilers, so I'm not going to do that, but this is a lovely book, and you should read it and then tell me what you think the ending means!

mindyb33's review against another edition

4.0
dark sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

iva_xx's review against another edition

4.0
challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
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izzy_iguess's review against another edition

5.0
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: N/A

phlopez's review against another edition

2.75
slow-paced

hannahzz's review against another edition

3.5
dark mysterious sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
Wasn’t entirely swept away with the characters or the plot, but was still tense/intriguing and the last quarter really picked up and was gripped to find out how things played out. Definitely surprised by the ending

mrsmozdog's review against another edition

3.75
mysterious reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
natklecha's profile picture

natklecha's review against another edition

5.0
dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

emestes's review against another edition

5.0
Magical! Transportive! I loved this book so much-- it was my first by Maggie O'Farrell but the writing is so beautiful and compelling that I went out and bought Hamnet while I was only 20 pages into Marriage Portrait. Point being, this is a fantastic book. I loved the interwoven timelines, it gave so much depth to the characters but also added an element of suspense, turning the novel into a mystery it felt like we were solving as the pieces came together.

krisoneillo's review against another edition

4.25
emotional reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes