This book was another prime example of why I love book clubs! I’m generally not a fan of historical fiction and I probably would have never voluntarily chosen to read a book set in the 1560s but I was really glad to have given this one a chance!! I was captivated from the first pages on and the first lines that the book started with definitely set the suspense:

In 1560, fifteen-year-old Lucrezia di Cosimo de’ Medici left Florence to begin her married life with Alfonso II d’Este, Duke of Ferrara. Less than a year later, she would be dead. The official cause of her death was given as “putrid fever”, but it was rumoured that she had been murdered by her husband.

Historical note in the beginning of the book

The way the book was structured, alternating between the narrative of events in a chronological order and jumps towards the very end of the story, kept one hooked as a reader. While being driven by my curiosity to find out which ending the author decided on, I was also surprised to have learned about other historical details. What the game of calcio is (an early form of a football game, also considered as one of the most brutal ball games on Earth and which is still played until today), what scudi were (the coins used in various states in the Italian peninsula until the 19th century) or doing my own research on the side about how a chainmail functions in battles. What additionally helped hold my interest was the fact that I have visited Florence before and was familiar with most of the locations mentioned. Depending on what kind of a reader you are (whether you prefer to stay in your reading flow or like to look up things while you’re directly in the story), I highly suggest you to look up the places that are described in the book.

The one aspect that got too much for me as the book progressed, was its particular style. It was extremely flowery, poetic and descriptive. At times, I found the comparisons made a bit awkward. You can find a couple of examples below. This is a subjective opinion though, so you might also think the exact opposite!

The walls cast deep shadow on the streets around them; the horses pass through the narrow gates like a knife through bread […].

p. 152

Lucrezia stands in her salon, watching the curlicues of steam write themselves on the air above the basins of hot water, brought up from the kitchens by Clelia. They twist and writhe, like serpents responding to pipe music, finding their way to the windows, their shed skins adhering to the cold panes.

p. 357

Nevertheless, the style was also what I appreciated about the book a lot in the beginning. I really felt like it added something special to the story, it might just have been overdone a tiny little bit. What it managed to achieve, was how vivid the images of the story were in my head. When discussing the book during a book club, I could still really clearly see various scenes in my head. Below a couple of examples of passages I really enjoyed:

In truth, she thinks, still up by the cold, sweating stone of the hall’s ceiling, the ride here from court was dull, through fields stark and frozen, the sky so heavy it seemed to droop, exhausted, on the tops of bare trees.

p. 3

The wedding gown waits; she can sense it behind her, biding its time, its empty shape poised to encase her body.

p. 120

Two other points that finally made me settle on a 3/5 star rating, was how some parts in the book were overly explained, rather than the author trusting the reader enough to come to the correct conclusions. The ending was a bit disappointing in my point of view and the pacing towards the end felt a bit more rushed in comparison to the rest of the book.

I ended up waking up earlier before work during the days when I was reading the book in order to find out what would happen next, so it definitely captivated my interest in a pleasantly surprising way! I could see “The Marriage Portrait” being the right fit for those who enjoy historical fiction, are not too strict about having a very deep and moving character study, as well as those who enjoy a suspenseful read. Fans of “Pride and Prejudice” or other Jane Austen novels might feel right at home with this novel. In my case, it has made me curious about the author’s other book, “Hamnet”, which I previously would never have considered reading.

★★★★☆ (4/5)

_{Edition: ISBN 978-1-4722-2388-3
Tinder Press, 2022}