Reviews - The Marriage Portrait

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The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell

9.12k reviews for:

Wow, this book is arresting! This book is about the power of choice and what happens when you take all choice away. Lucrezia is a child of the Medicis and grows up with her every bodily need taken care of. But her genius for painting is little acknowledged by her family and her quick mind is never lauded. Indeed, she is nothing but a pawn, a daughter to be given to a cruel and unyielding duke. This is the very heart of the matter — that Lucrezia is never once given a choice in anything of importance. Every decision is made for her, when to cut her hair, how much she should know of court matters, and how she should react while her husband is using her. Lucrezia is murdered at 16, one year into her marriage, at the hands of her husband. She never once had a choice in the way her life could have unraveled. This books gives her that choice.

laurenunu's review against another edition

4.75

dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

ilovecupsoftea's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

eobehrens's review against another edition

3.0

Overall I enjoyed this book. However, there were definitely points that were a bit tedious and some of the connections between characters felt a bit flat for me. I did like the historical aspect of the story.

readerjim's review against another edition

2.0

Such a well written story that just didn’t go anywhere. The beginning was the best part, and then it quickly descended into nothing. So disappointed because her previous book, Hamnet, was one of my favorites last year.

jmavaro's review against another edition

5.0

The perfect book, if ever there was one! A book so enjoyable I put off finishing it. Beautiful writing, intriguing plot, immaculate ending. Magnificent.

laurenrheah's review against another edition

2.0

The description and reviews had me very hopeful for this book, and yet I found myself speed reading it just so I could be done with it. The book dragged on and the writing was too wordy for my liking. The characters were very flat, even the main character.