The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell. Alfred A. Knopf, 2022. Adult historical fiction.This fascinating fictional book is based on the story of Lucrezia de Medici, the child bride of the Duke of Ferrara in the mid 1500's. Although her sister Maria has been promised to the duke, Lucrezia ends up his wife. She is moved from the only family and home in Florence that she has ever known to Tuscany with her much older husband. Her duty, of course, is to provide an heir. But, Lucrezia must dance among the politics, the family, and her growing suspicion that her husband may want to do away with her. The many descriptions and details make this a real treat of a book. (It may even soon have readers tuning in to the Netflix series on the de Medicis themselves!) Do you know the poem by Robert Browning entitled "My Last Duchess"? This novel may also have readers looking it up, too!
No comments:
Post a Comment