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An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here. The author of award-winning Hamnet brings the world of Renaissance Italy to jewel-bright life in this unforgettable fictional portrait of the captivating young duchess Lucrezia de’ Medici as she makes her way in a troubled court. Florence, the 1550s. Lucrezia, third daughter of the grand duke, is comfortable with her obscure place in the palazzo: free to wonder at its treasures, observe its clandestine workings, and devote herself to her own artistic pursuits. But when her older sister dies on the eve of her wedding to the ruler of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio, Lucrezia is thrust unwittingly into the limelight: the duke is quick to request her hand in marriage, and her father just as quick to accept on her behalf. Having barely left girlhood behind, Lucrezia must now enter an unfamiliar court whose customs are opaque and where her arrival is not universally welcomed. Perhaps most mystifying of all is her new husband himself, Alfonso. Is he the playful sophisticate he appeared to be before their wedding, the aesthete happiest in the company of artists and musicians, or the ruthless politician before whom even his formidable sisters seem to tremble? As Lucrezia sits in constricting finery for a painting intended to preserve her image for centuries to come, one thing becomes worryingly clear. In the court’s eyes, she has one duty: to provide the heir who will shore up the future of the Ferranese dynasty. Until then, for all of her rank and nobility, the new duchess’s future hangs entirely in the balance. Full of the beauty and emotion with which she illuminated the Shakespearean canvas of Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell turns her talents to Renaissance Italy in an extraordinary portrait of a resilient young woman’s battle for her very survival.
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An immersive historical fiction based loosely on real events. The author conveys Lucrezia's emotions well, and you really go through the entire ride with her. The layout of the story was also well done, with this pincer like feeling of getting closer and closer to the crescendo, especially as you technically know what happens at the end in the first chapter.
For readers of Madeleine Miller and Natalie Haynes.
3.5 stars
I feel guilty writing a mediocre review for this wonderfully written novel - Maggie O'Farrell clearly has the research, craft, and narrative chops to write a beautiful story. The characters were deep and complex, you get an intimate look at our narrator Lucrezia, and by the end of it I felt like I knew her inside out, which is more than I can say for most protagonists.
Despite all the good, this book didn't work for me. As others have noted, it felt extremely overwritten (4 pages are dedicated to putting on her wedding dress...) and while I love a beautifully written description to bring the world to life, there was simply too much of it. I wanted to read about what was happening, not three paragraphs about the thunderstorm against the palace windows. The scales were tipped too heavily towards atmosphere over plot and made the story feel tedious.
At no point did I want to DNF, but I was constantly asking myself How many more pages?
Ugh, the guilt is hitting. Sometimes beautiful words are just not enough.