Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - The Marriage Portrait

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell - Review (🇬🇧 + 🇩🇪)

O’Farrell completely amazed me with »Hamnet«. And the things I enjoyed most are present in her newest release, too: the elements of nature are almost their own character; her observations on the human condition are mesmerizing; her prose so beautiful. With »Hamnet«, I was incredibly sad, but it was also an ode to life. With »The Marriage Portrait«, I was incredibly angry, but it also felt like a renewal of force, of will.

The tension was unbearable at times. And Lucrezia is quite the character. Aspects of her resonated a lot with me, but she is way less yielding, way more forceful than me.

Caught between anger, hope, and fascination, O’Farrell had me at her mercy. I will let myself go into further depths created by her quill. To me, this is what a 5 ⭐️ book looks like.
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🇩🇪 Porträt einer Ehe von Maggie O’Farrell

Mit »Hamnet« hat mich die Autorin bereits absolut begeistert. Viele Dinge, die mich an dem Buch so faszinierten, sind auch in ihrem neusten Werk präsent: Die Natur ist beinahe ein eigener Charakter; der Schreibstil ist bildlich und dennoch stringent; ihre Beobachtungen des menschlichen Seins beeindruckend. Mit »Hamnet« war ich vor allem traurig, dennoch war es eine lebensbejahende Lektüre. Mit »Porträt einer Ehe« war ich vor allem wütend – in der bestmöglichen Weise.

Die Spannung war teilweise kaum auszuhalten. O‘Farrell hat so eine beengte Atmosphäre geschaffen, dass ich gar nicht anders konnte, als dieser mit Lucrezia entfliehen zu wollen.

Gefangen zwischen Wut, Hoffnung und Faszination hatte O’Farrell meine ganze Aufmerksamkeit. Ich finde es grandios. 5 ⭐

Content Warnings

morethanmylupus's review

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Maggie O'Farrell has a talent for building multi-layered personalities and histories for people we don't have much information about. She did this with Hamnetas well, but she had to work within the bounds of more known history this time. This isn't a fast-paced thriller or full of dramatic twists and turns. Instead, it's more of a literary fiction set in historical times that tells about the life of one woman living at that time. If you enjoy historical fiction that's more about a person's life and less about a plot that's driving towards the finish line, you'll like this one.

Content Warnings

sevensableyes's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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holly_m_m's review

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dark tense medium-paced

3.5

Content Warnings

tamingofthedew's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

judythedreamer's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Quick thought on story structure: the non-chronological double timeline lends itself to an alternative structure. The current day sections are in actuality the third act playing out, so plot point 2 is them leaving Ferrara for the fortezza with the poisoning.

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