The Marriage Portrait is the latest novel by award-winning author Maggie O’Farrell (most recently, for Hamnet). The story is set in the mid to late 1500s and is inspired by the life of Lucrezia di Cosimo de Medici d’Este, the Duchess of Ferrara. The protagonist is Lucretia, a fifteen-year-old forced to wed an older man, Alfonzo, for political advantage, as was the norm in that place and time. The “marriage portrait” is commissioned by her husband, Alfonzo, and is a metaphor for the free spirit of Lucretia confined by the absolute obedience, even in the face of evil, due her husband who, because she fails to get pregnant (spoiler alert – not her fault) arranges to kill her. Writers will appreciate the description of tangible physical details in a way that effectively carries emotion and meaning. Excellent writing. Here’s what Kirkus Reviews says:

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/maggie-ofarrell-1/the-marriage-portrait/

Hamnet is a novel by Maggie O’Farrell about the family of Shakespeare as imagined by the author. Hamnet was the son of Shakespeare who died as a teenager. However, while Hamnet gets some ink, I thought the story was primarily about and told from the point of view of Shakespeare’s wife, Anne (or Agnes, as her father called her and as the author calls her in this story). “I have tried to stick to the scant historical facts known about the real Hamnet and his family” the author’s note says, but this is a work of fiction, not history, with personalities and plots invented by the author. The character Agnes is witchlike and empathic, curing people with herbs and able to see the future, including the artistic vision of her husband. The characters and the description of the times are interesting. The prose is skillful. This author knows what she’s doing and has won awards for other books she has published. Here’s what Kirkus Reviews says:

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/maggie-ofarrell-1/hamnet/