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A review by ellieintherye
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
5 full stars; no rounding!!
This is the best book I've read in a long time. It has everything I want in a good-ass book: great storytelling, whydunnit, history, girl power, beautiful descriptive language, and time to get to know the characters (aka, it's long).
Because I loved this book so much, I want to defend the most common criticisms I've seen of it. It'll save you from my endless gushing (kind of, lol) and will help me think about the book a little more critically too.
Common criticisms I've seen:
The ending is rushed. First, the ending is 2 pages; I get that. But, when we consider that the entire book is a setup for "Lucre's" "death" scene, which we know about from the very beginning... aren't there actually ~400 pages of ending? OK, it's a stretch, but that's my truth!
The history isn't right. Ok! To the folks who say, "just read the wiki articles about these people and you've got it," I have two words for you: historical fiction. You should know what you're getting yourself into before you get into it, no? Generally, I admit, I prefer to read a biography (let's call it the history major in me) instead of historical fiction. But, we all (should) know that history is generally far from objective truth anyway; historical records were largely written by men in power. So take this book with a grain of salt, remember that it's art, and think critically about historical texts you read too! For what it's worth: I'm already planning a trip to Florence to soak up the rest of this setting. I understand this critique in a major way, but also just let us have this one!
There's an excess of description. Boooo. This take is entirely subjective, and I'm taking the exact opposite stance! I definitely don't recommend this book to people who prefer to skim dialogue to get the whole picture — and no judgment! I like that sometimes too, don't we all (See: Daisy Jones and the Six)? But if that's your m.o., The Marriage Portrait is probably not for you! It's not a beach read! O'Farrell's endless setting descriptions truly make this book what it is for me. Lucre is imprisoned in and by her privilege; she was born and raised to breed nobles and act the part. The fact that readers can see her cage(s) so clearly throughout the book is one of the most important aspects of the entire thing.
Anyway, I LOVED THIS BOOK and I will never stop singing its praises!
This is the best book I've read in a long time. It has everything I want in a good-ass book: great storytelling, whydunnit, history, girl power, beautiful descriptive language, and time to get to know the characters (aka, it's long).
Because I loved this book so much, I want to defend the most common criticisms I've seen of it. It'll save you from my endless gushing (kind of, lol) and will help me think about the book a little more critically too.
Common criticisms I've seen:
The ending is rushed. First, the ending is 2 pages; I get that. But, when we consider that the entire book is a setup for "Lucre's" "death" scene, which we know about from the very beginning... aren't there actually ~400 pages of ending? OK, it's a stretch, but that's my truth!
The history isn't right. Ok! To the folks who say, "just read the wiki articles about these people and you've got it," I have two words for you: historical fiction. You should know what you're getting yourself into before you get into it, no? Generally, I admit, I prefer to read a biography (let's call it the history major in me) instead of historical fiction. But, we all (should) know that history is generally far from objective truth anyway; historical records were largely written by men in power. So take this book with a grain of salt, remember that it's art, and think critically about historical texts you read too! For what it's worth: I'm already planning a trip to Florence to soak up the rest of this setting. I understand this critique in a major way, but also just let us have this one!
There's an excess of description. Boooo. This take is entirely subjective, and I'm taking the exact opposite stance! I definitely don't recommend this book to people who prefer to skim dialogue to get the whole picture — and no judgment! I like that sometimes too, don't we all (See: Daisy Jones and the Six)? But if that's your m.o., The Marriage Portrait is probably not for you! It's not a beach read! O'Farrell's endless setting descriptions truly make this book what it is for me. Lucre is imprisoned in and by her privilege; she was born and raised to breed nobles and act the part. The fact that readers can see her cage(s) so clearly throughout the book is one of the most important aspects of the entire thing.
Anyway, I LOVED THIS BOOK and I will never stop singing its praises!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Animal death