Beth’s Reviews > The Marriage Portrait > Status Update

Excellent literary historical fiction!

The novel is an intensive character study of a royal female raised for a single purpose. As an offering to seal a political alliance and to bear the heirs of her noble husband’s lineage. The prose moves seamlessly from one image to another creating a massive canvas upon which the internal life of Lucrezia is revealed.

The images O’Farrell creates on every page are exquisite. It’s as if she is painting with words.