Maggie O’Farrell’s The Marriage Portrait is a vivid, sensory immersion into Renaissance Italy. It reimagines the life of Lucrezia de’ Medici, the young duchess immortalised in Robert Browning’s poem, "My Last Duchess." 🎨 The Premise
The novel opens with a chilling certainty: Lucrezia is convinced her husband is going to kill her. ⚔️ Why It’s a Must-Read The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell
O'Farrell writes with a "thick" style. You can smell the oil paints and feel the heavy velvet of the gowns. Maggie O’Farrell’s The Marriage Portrait is a vivid,
If you loved O’Farrell’s Hamnet , you will find the same lyrical beauty here, though with a darker, more suspenseful edge. It is a haunting exploration of power, art, and survival. You can smell the oil paints and feel
It gives a voice to a historical figure who was previously just a "portrait on the wall."