Reviews - The Marriage Portrait

9.14k reviews for:

The Marriage Portrait

Maggie O'Farrell

4.03 AVERAGE

prachimohile's review against another edition

4.0

This was wildly interesting…but I could not sit with how Amelia was murdered and that was left as just that..

katiedubielak's review against another edition

4.0

dark informative mysterious relaxing slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

love love love! such a wonderfully descriptive book, flowery language. super interesting to learn about these real people, the author makes history fun and intriguing.

outspokenlibrarian's review against another edition

4.0

This was a selection for book club last month, but I was unable to get this in time due to a long queue at the library. I still wanted to read this, though, and what a gem of a book.

Not much is known about Lucrezia de Medici's short life, save for a few basic facts, and a rumor that persists that she died not of a "putrid fever," but was in fact poisoned by her husband.

O'Farrell reimagines Lucrezia's history, and weaves a story to fill in those gaps. The descriptions are lush, the story beautiful and harrowing by turns. Recommended.

martini_princess's review against another edition

2.5

emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Author is a skilled writer, but writes too much, causing the story to drag. The ending was atrocious.

annaperry015's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

gracekr's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark tense 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: Yes

cathyannjohnston's review against another edition

5.0

Maggie O'Farrell's books are outstanding! I started with Hamnet. I can't wait to try a couple of others "This Must Be the Place" or "The Hand that First Held Mine." The Marriage Portrait is a look (fictionalized of course) at the life of Lucrezia DeMedici. Ms O'Farrell is a master of creating place and all its details. You feel like you know each space as you enter it. And the characters, most of whom are based on real people, are just as real. I highly recommend this