#BookReview of #TheMarriagePortrait by Maggie O’ Farrell

“I thought I had made myself clear. I want something that conveys her majesty, her bloodline. Do you understand? She is no ordinary mortal. Treat her thus.”

[ About the Book ]

Winter, 1561. Lucrezia, Duchess of Ferrara, is taken on an unexpected visit to a country villa by her husband, Alfonso. As they sit down to dinner it occurs to Lucrezia that Alfonso has a sinister purpose in bringing her here. He intends to kill her.

Lucrezia is sixteen years old, and has led a sheltered life locked away inside Florence’s grandest palazzo. Here, in this remote villa, she is entirely at the mercy of her increasingly erratic husband.

What is Lucrezia to do with this sudden knowledge? What chance does she have against Alfonso, ruler of a province, and a trained soldier? How can she ensure her survival.

[ My Review ]

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’ Farrell will be published August 30th with Tinder Press and is described as ‘an unforgettable reimagining of the life of a young woman whose proximity to power places her in mortal danger.’

The Marriage Portrait follows on from the incredibly successful and very much loved Hamnet by Maggie O’ Farrell, a book which was released in 2020. Described as ‘a luminous portrait of a marriage, at its heart the loss of a beloved child‘, Hamnet was lush, exquisite and a remarkable piece of literary fiction, so my expectations were set very high for this one.

Set in the mid 1500s, The Marriage Portrait is the reimagining of the short life and times of Lucrezia, the third daughter of Cosimo de’ Medici and his Spanish wife Eleonora. Growing up, Lucrezia was different from her siblings. She was free-spirited and had a passion for nature, animals and the world around her. She loved losing herself in her artwork and never looked beyond the present moment, until the day her older sister, Maria, died. Unbeknownst to Lucrezia this was the day that would change the course of her young life in the most unimaginable way.

Maria’s unexpected death caused the family much pain but, life had to move forward and political allegiances had to be established, so a decision was made. Lucrezia, although only twelve years of age, was betrothed to her sister Maria’s intended husband, Alfonso II d’Este, heir to the Duke of Fererra, Modena and Reggio. Lucrezia was horrified with this news. How could her mother and father agree to such an arrangement?

Maggie O’ Farrell excels at immersing her readers in another time and place and in The Marriage Portrait the sights and sounds of Florence are wonderfully depicted, providing a very strong visual of life there in the mid 16th century. At the time there was a menagerie in the de Medici Palazzo and Maggie O’ Farrell creates a fantastical scene when Cosimo de’ Medici requests for a tiger to be added to his collection.

‘The Grand Duke’s peculiar fancy for a tiger was communicated to an emissary, and then an ambassador, a sea captain, a silk merchant, an advisor to a sultan, a viceroy, a spice trader, an under-secretary in a maharajah palace, the maharajah’s cousin, the maharajah himself, his wife , his son, then back to the under-secretary, and in to a band of soldiers, then the villagers in a remote part of Bengal.’

When the tiger eventually does arrive Lucrezia feels a bond with this captive creature, this animal shackled down deep in the depths of her father’s palace. It’s how she expects her life will be in the years to follow.

Following the inevitable marriage, Alfonso is gentle and attentive with Lucrezia. Aware of her youth and inexperience he allows her the time to adapt to married life away from the eyes of the court. After his father dies, Alfonso steps into his role as Duke of Ferrera, marking Lucrezia as the Duchess of Ferrara. Together they travel to his family’s Palazzo where a new life awaits them. But there is trouble brewing and very quickly Lucrezia realises that her husband is not all that she initially imagined, soon fearing for her very own life.

Maggie O’ Farrell recreates these fraught months with painful scenes that tear at your heart. Lucrezia, away from her family, has little in the way of allies. She tries to be the woman she is meant to be but the restrictions of court life and the erratic behaviour of her husband, cause her many sleepless nights. She knows that she is not the perfect wife but the rebel inside her will not stay hidden.

Alfonso orders a portrait to be made of her, one that will be like no other, where her beauty will transcend and where folk will be astounded by her regal and ethereal beauty. He is very involved from the beginning insisting on her dress, her posture, the jewellery to be worn, every little detail. His strive for perfection and his express desire to be correct at all times is noted by Lucrezia, adding to her concerns about him as a man, as her husband.

A beautiful and creative soul with a sadness in her eyes, Lucrezia’s image was actually captured in a renowned painting that has been attributed to Bronzino. Maggie O’ Farrell on seeing the image was immediately captivated by this “young girl with a dark-eyed gaze and a slightly troubled expression” and “knew the instant I saw her that I would write about her” reimagining her life in this fascinating and intriguing tale.

Even though The Marriage Portrait is a fictional recreation, there is an authenticity to the characters, creating a real sense of truth throughout. All that glitters was most definitely not gold for Lucrezia and her fear jumps off the pages as she becomes aware of the destiny that awaits her. Whatever really happened to Lucrezia no one will ever truly know but, with this reimagining of her short life, Maggie O’ Farrell has captivated her essence and brought us an opulent, yet devastating, tale set against the backdrop of the Italian Renaissance.

While both are historical fiction, I am slow to compare The Marriage Portrait to Hamnet because they are clearly very different reads. Many of us have some connection with Shakespeare, through our education or from general interest, but how many of us are as familiar with this period of Renaissance Italy?

The Marriage Portrait is an intriguing tale of lies and deceit, of greed and exploitation, of vengeance and defiance, of passion and of hate. Maggie O’ Farrell writes beautifully, creating palatial scenes in grandiose surroundings with very vivid descriptions and captivating portrayals of time and place. Very rich in detail, The Marriage Portrait is a compelling and provocative piece of historical fiction, one that will definitely lead most readers to further research.

[ Bio ]

Maggie O’Farrell, FRSOL, is the author of HAMNET, Winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2020, and the memoir I AM, I AM, I AM, both Sunday Times no. 1 bestsellers. Her novels include AFTER YOU’D GONE, MY LOVER’S LOVER, THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US, which won a Somerset Maugham Award, THE VANISHING ACT OF ESME LENNOX, THE HAND THAT FIRST HELD MINE, which won the 2010 Costa Novel Award, INSTRUCTIONS FOR A HEATWAVE and THIS MUST BE THE PLACE., and THE MARRIAGE PORTRAIT. She is also the author of two books for children, WHERE SNOW ANGELS GO and THE BOY WHO LOST HIS SPARK. She lives in Edinburgh.
(Courtesy of Hachette UK)