A review by emmalong
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell

5.0

absolutely unreal. after enjoying hamnet but giving it a 3 star rating due to just an overall sloggy feeling, i was somewhat hesitant to pick this one up. i know O'Farrell is a talented writer as she is constantly being nominated for prizes and put on favorites lists throughout the years. but i know that i made the right choice picking this one up because it completely blew me away. our main character, Lucrezia, is given as a young bride to a soon-to-be duke. the overall feeling of Lucrezia is that she is completely in the dark regarding most aspects of her life, as is the plight of even many modern women. this story is so important to me and awakened something in my that is akin to the recent dedications of modern retellings of greek mythology. centering on the perspectives of women and pointing out the parallels and eerie similarities between historic women and women of today is chilling but so, so important to focus on. i was rooting for Lucrezia every single step of the way and feeling all of the emotions of control, claustrophobia, and frustration with her. just an absolutely phenomenal book and one i will certainly reread in the future.