Reviews - The Marriage Portrait

9.14k reviews for:

The Marriage Portrait

Maggie O'Farrell

4.03 AVERAGE

willlawler's review against another edition

4.5

dark informative mysterious reflective tense slow-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: Complicated

serjac's review against another edition

4.5

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

lillymoseley's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

jsparks's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

jade_smith's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This transported me straight to Renaissance Italy and the panicked, frustrated, calculated mind of a young woman married off against her will.

I didn’t quite enjoy this as much as Hamnet. Maybe the ending was a bit cheesy. But it was really quite a good book.

ellabeas's review against another edition

5.0

Surprise gem. I wouldn’t have thought a book about a child bride in the mid 1500’s would captivate me but here we are. It was well written, thoughtful, and kept me wanting more.
Wavering on a 4 or 5 so I’m rounding up. I liked this because it was never too graphic but it was still acutely descriptive. I could smell some of these scenes.
Recommend to anyone who has traveled to Italy or to the south of France. History buffs. Art lovers. And those interested in the untold stories of women in history.
Skip this if history bores you or you need brief chapters.
Overall I liked the pacing and the balance of action even when our protagonist was locked in a room. Exceptionally well written.
There’s enough content here for a decent book club discussion, but it would not be a top pick to dive into with friends.
I read a paper copy but could see this working well digitally our in audio despite the long chapters.