Maggie O’Farrell blew many of us away with Hamnet and she’s back with another gripping novel, this time set in Renaissance Italy. I don’t feel The Marriage Portrait quite reaches the same level of brilliance as Hamnet but it is still excellent. The way O’Farrell brings to life the story of young Lucrezia, third daughter of Cosimo de Medici, and her marriage to the mysterious and cruel Duke of Ferrara is deft and startling. 1560’s Florence is so vivid you can almost see, feel, hear and taste it. The Marriage Portrait is a heady blend of beauty and brutality from a storyteller at the top of her game.
— Olivia