Reviews - The Marriage Portrait

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The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell

9.15k reviews for:

Not as good as Hamnet :( The first half was amazing, I loved the descriptions of Renaissance Florence, but the ending was anticlimactic. I never quite liked Lucrezia, but she wasn't interesting enough to make up for it.

jozi_girl's review against another edition

4.0

3.5 stars

This is my third O’Farrell and I feel her writing has gotten stronger in recent years.

I loved [b:Hamnet|43890641|Hamnet|Maggie O'Farrell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1574943819l/43890641._SY75_.jpg|68289933] (published 2020) but not [b:The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox|250729|The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox|Maggie O'Farrell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1630472794l/250729._SY75_.jpg|3050927] (published 2006).

The audio narration was great, and the story gives you an excellent feel for the culture and times of 16th century Italy and the ways of the aristocracy. This is a complex tale of a young girls struggle to find freedom and self-expression in a world that offers little to women, rich or poor.

I read up about Lucrezia Duchess of Ferrara and this story is a very close proximity of historic facts. The author also added a footnote at the end explaining what parts were changed and for what reasons.

There were one or two areas where I felt that the author got a bit too caught up in the littlest of details but the narration had such a lovely calming feel to it I just went with the flow.

If you are looking for a solid novel about the little-known life of Lucrezia de' Medici, you cannot go wrong with the audio book.

mariatambien's review against another edition

Un flop

rwallauer's review against another edition

5.0

This book was phenomenal! It follows Lucrezia de'Medici in the mid-1500's in Florence and her brief marriage to the Duke of Ferrara. Her short life meets a tragic end and this tale takes you through her brief tenure as the Duchess. It's mostly the tale of a bird kept in a cage and gives an interesting glimpse into the lives of royal women from this era.

I really love historical fiction and this one was a story I had never heard. I think the liberties that the author took with the story were super interesting and I really love that she included a piece at the end about what the research says versus her version of events. The writing was superb - intriguing and full of interesting words. Definitely recommend!

ibeesb's review against another edition

3.0

2.5 stars.

It could've been shorter. It felt like the author was trying to hit a word limit and her initial draft was short.

ashleyruth's review against another edition

4.5

slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: N/A

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I got this book for Christmas back in 2023 and I finally cracked it (not literally) open and gave it a read. I love historical fiction, especially set in Renaissance Italy so I knew I would enjoy this.

For me, historical fiction feels like a warm hug and I definitely felt that while reading. The FMC, Lucrezia is part of the Medici family, a powerful family in Florence, and were big art patrons. As such, they came up quite a bit in the Art History courses I did at university and reading this book gave me a sense of familiarity.

Lucrezia is the black sheep of her family. Even from her conception she is not like anyone else and does not want the traditional life of a woman of the time. I love how Lucrezia is given an identity other than being another woman whose life was cut short.

We follow her throughout her life and as a result get quite attached to her. We know her fate thanks to history but this book gives a satisfying end to her story.

The only thing I wasn’t a massive fan of was the big chapters/time periods. They put me off and as a result I could only manage to read 2 or 3 pages at a time. Other than that I adored this book and I can’t wait to read Hamnet.