This is a gripping story that has at its core the little-known life of Lucrezia de' Medici is a pawn in her family's desire for power and her husband's desire for an heir.

The Marriage Portrait: the Instant Sunday Times - WHSmith The Marriage Portrait: the Instant Sunday Times - WHSmith

And, without the "rooting" effect, I found myself at a loss as to why I continued to read about her journey.Then again, on further thought, I didn't feel any compatibility with any of the characters: the 15-year-old bride Lucrezia, her bold and controlling husband Alfonso, her jealous sister, conniving sisters-in-law, uncaring parents. Hachette Australia acknowledges and pays our respects to the past, present and future Traditional Owners and Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuation of cultural, spiritual and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The Marriage Portrait: the Instant Sunday Times Bestseller The Marriage Portrait: the Instant Sunday Times Bestseller

Photograph: Alamy The duchess in the tower … Lucrezia de' Medici, who died aged 16 in 1560, is the protagonist in The Marriage Portrait. Where Hamnet’s emotional punch (read it and weep) was powered by its psychological and social realism, The Marriage Portrait is set in a world as fabulous as that of a millefleurs tapestry and inhabited by beings as flatly emblematic as embroidered ladies and their unicorns. The ending did come as a surprise, even if it wasn't entirely realistic, but nice to imagine a kinder fate for that young woman.There is a lot going on in it under and around the surface narrative, in the way that there are other stories being enacted in the backgrounds of Renaissance paintings of biblical scenes. Overall I enjoyed this book, even though the subject made it difficult at times, and am curious to see if this style of writing will continue in O'Farrell's next book. The descriptions do seem over-wrought at times and even Lucrezia's character comes off as inconsistent: tough and independent as a child, timid and almost insipid post-marriage. I only had a vague recollection of My Last Duchess from my university days going into this book but I liked the reimagining of that story. Alphonso has him brutally beaten, and his coffin is taken out in the dead of night, with an increasingly desperate Lucrezia witnessing the act.