Set in Renaissance Italy, The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell is the fictionalized story of Lucrezia de Medici, who became a Duchess at the young age of 15-years-old by marrying Alfonzo II, Duke of Ferrara.
Early in the story, it is revealed that Alfonzo plans on
murdering Lucrezia soon after their wedding. Why does he want to kill her is my
first question. After all, he's the one who suggested the union. The marriage
was arranged by Lucrezia’s father, which was customary in those days. Lucrezia
always had a bad feeling about the marriage and begged her father to get her
out of it.
The Marriage Portrait
received fairly good reviews, but I'm going to have to disagree with them. The
story is told so disjointedly and unfocused that it was difficult for me to
connect with it and its characters. The painfully slow, fragmented narration
only causes confusion as well as a lack of advancement. The writing style
rambles, which doesn’t help matters. I wanted to yell “Get to the point
already”!
Nearing the end of the book, Alfonzo becomes very dark
and controlling towards Lucrezia. Clearly, he's a dangerous man with many
secrets. It is only now when an interesting plot begins to develop. While there
is some suspense at the end of The Marriage Portrait, it’s really not
enough for me to give this book an endorsement.
If you would like to be placed on Maria's
Book Banter’s e-mailing list, please e-mail me at mariabookbanter@gmail.com.
You will receive links to blog posts shortly after they are published. Rest
assure, your contact information will not be sold. If you would like to be removed from the
list, let me know. Any questions or comments can be sent to this e-mail address
too.
