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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
dark
tense
medium-paced
WOW. This one blew me away. Told in flashbacks from the night Lucrezia is dying, we see her life from birth. Her childhood had idyllic moments, but she was undoubtedly the black sheep of her family. She was sheltered and her naïveté is stunning at times, yet she is a true force of nature and much bolder than I expected her to be in certain situations. I have never felt so much inside of a character's head as I did in this novel. The writing was incredible with imagery that bordered on magical realism and intimate thoughts and feelings from the narrator that endeared her to me. This is the best piece of historical fiction I have ever read and the ending literally made my jaw drop.
✒︎4 stars
The Marriage Portrait follows a girl named Lucrezia who died suddenly at the age of fifteen. Lucrezia, who was only thirteen at the time, is forced to marry the Duke of Ferrera following the sudden death of her sister Maria. It was believed that her husband, Alfonso, murdered Lucrezia for her inability to produce a heir when in reality, it was suspected that Alfonso was actually infertile. The Marriage Portrait weaves a complex tale following factual aspects of the real Lucrezia's life, while also putting a loverly fictional twist on her story.
This book, much like Hamnet, took me a while to become invested in. I have a serious love-hate relationship with O'Farrell's writing. On one hand, it can be beautiful and metaphorical, giving you the desire to re-read certain lines over and over to decipher the meaning of each word which was placed so purposefully. On the other hand... it was entirely too overly-descriptive for my taste. Of course, this book is very character focused, but some descriptions dragged on for so long that I found myself literally loosing the plot and needing to re-read what I had just read.
Although I have that gripe with the book, I still preferred The Marriage Portrait to Hamnet by a long shot. I absolutely loved Lucrezia's story from start to finish. I connected to her character deeply, and was fully invested in her every move (even the ones that were over-described.) Her character is complex, and it's amazing to me that Maggie O'Farrell could bring to life someone who existed someone who was alive hundreds of years ago. It did take a while to get into, but by the end of this book, I was gripping the book, excited to see the end. The ending, itself spins Lucrezia's story in a new, more hopeful and beautiful way.
While I took a bit to adjust to O'Farrell's prose, I soon became enthralled with the story and characters which I grew to love by the end.
✂︎----------
see my thoughts on
I am, I am, I am: Seventeen Brushes With Death
Hamnet
✂︎----------
check me out on other platforms!
TikTok
Twitter
Instagram
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The Marriage Portrait follows a girl named Lucrezia who died suddenly at the age of fifteen. Lucrezia, who was only thirteen at the time, is forced to marry the Duke of Ferrera following the sudden death of her sister Maria. It was believed that her husband, Alfonso, murdered Lucrezia for her inability to produce a heir when in reality, it was suspected that Alfonso was actually infertile. The Marriage Portrait weaves a complex tale following factual aspects of the real Lucrezia's life, while also putting a loverly fictional twist on her story.
This book, much like Hamnet, took me a while to become invested in. I have a serious love-hate relationship with O'Farrell's writing. On one hand, it can be beautiful and metaphorical, giving you the desire to re-read certain lines over and over to decipher the meaning of each word which was placed so purposefully. On the other hand... it was entirely too overly-descriptive for my taste. Of course, this book is very character focused, but some descriptions dragged on for so long that I found myself literally loosing the plot and needing to re-read what I had just read.
Although I have that gripe with the book, I still preferred The Marriage Portrait to Hamnet by a long shot. I absolutely loved Lucrezia's story from start to finish. I connected to her character deeply, and was fully invested in her every move (even the ones that were over-described.) Her character is complex, and it's amazing to me that Maggie O'Farrell could bring to life someone who existed someone who was alive hundreds of years ago. It did take a while to get into, but by the end of this book, I was gripping the book, excited to see the end. The ending, itself spins Lucrezia's story in a new, more hopeful and beautiful way.
While I took a bit to adjust to O'Farrell's prose, I soon became enthralled with the story and characters which I grew to love by the end.
✂︎----------
see my thoughts on
I am, I am, I am: Seventeen Brushes With Death
Hamnet
✂︎----------
check me out on other platforms!
TikTok
YouTube
Patreon
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I really enjoyed this, love the shifting timeline and the writing in general. Not as good as Hamnet.
I got a little lost in the back and forth timeline but really enjoyed the ending. I also feel like I got more out of this fictionalization of Lucretzia’s life but reading the author’s notes to understand what artistic allowances O’Farrell took and the inspiration behind those choices.